Nottingham Forest will have to wait anxiously for clarifications after the club’s hearing about a suspected Premier League spending violation.
Last week, the club presented its defense to an impartial panel over the course of a two-day hearing.
With Forest dividing Everton and Luton Town, the team at the top of the bottom three, the result will have a big effect on the bottom half of the standings. Everton will be paying close attention to the weekend match between Forest and Luton.
Those associated with the Blues will also be carefully following Forest’s case while the club prepares its own.
Forest and Everton were each accused of breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations on January 15, a fortnight after the deadline for top flight clubs to submit their financial data to the league. Everton had already become the first Premier League side to be prosecuted under the regulations, receiving a 10 point penalty in November that was reduced to six after an appeal that concluded last month.
The second Blues case is scheduled to be tried this month, and the decisions for Forest and Everton are expected no later than April 8. The Everton case that has previously been heard indicated that a points punishment would be the first step if a breach was upheld.
Forest’s main line of defence heading into the club’s hearing will be of real significance to Everton. One of the Midlands side’s mitigating points was expected to be the decision to delay the sale of Brennan Johnson in order to get a bigger fee. It was anticipated the club would put forward this move as being financially astute – Forest say they received almost £20m more by selling him to Tottenham Hotspur on the summer deadline day in comparison to what they were offered by Brentford weeks earlier. That delay did take them past the deadline for the timeframe the assessment period covers, however. This is of particular interest to Everton as in summer 2022 the club decided to take a fee for Richarlison that the club deemed below market value in order to complete the sale within the timeframe of the profit and sustainability calculations.
The outcome of Forest’s case will also impact the race for survival. Forest are three points ahead of Luton and one point behind Everton. Any deduction for either will impact their survival hopes.
The Premier League has revealed that new financial regulations are being drafted to oversee the league, which sets the stage for the cases to reach a head. Parts of the fan base are concerned that the rules might be altered so quickly after Everton broke them. The Premier League is eager to put the new system into place as soon as possible, which coincides with the growing likelihood of independent regulation of the English game. A statement from the league read: “This new system aims to provide certainty for clubs about their future financial plans and ensure the Premier League can continue its world-leading investment in all levels of the game.”
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