Nottingham Forest lodge appeal against Premier League points deduction

Nottingham Forest: BBC Sport's Simon Stone explains the impact of points deduction

Nottingham Forest have lodged an appeal against their four-point deduction for breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules, the club has confirmed.

An independent commission found Forest's losses to 2022-23 breached the threshold of £61m by £34.5m.

The loss of points has placed Forest into the relegation zone in 18th place, one point behind Luton Town.

Forest said in a statement they would not be making any further comment.

They are the second top-flight team to be penalised for PSR breaches after Everton lost 10 points in November, which was reduced to six on appeal.

Last week, Forest said they were "extremely disappointed" with the decision, which they said "raises issues of concern for all aspirant clubs".

Premier League clubs can lose £105m over three seasons - £35m per campaign - but Forest's maximum loss was only permitted to be £61m because they spent two years of the assessment period in the Championship.

Forest were set to be hit with a six-point deduction - three points for the initial breach and a further three for the size of the breach - but their "early plea" and "cooperation" meant that was reduced to four points.

The league's rules state any appeals process should "conclude no later than and if possible some time before 24 May" - five days after the season finishes. However, Forest's case is expected to be concluded before then.

Forest, who were charged in January, won promotion from the second tier in 2022 and proceeded to sign a British-record 22 new players that summer, also bringing in five players on loan.

Their net transfer spend over the 2022-23 season was £142.8m.

They lost an average of £3m across 2020 and 2021 with a further £40m loss in 2022 and £52m in 2023, amounting to a total of £95m.

Timeline guide to ongoing Forest and Everton cases

15 January: Everton and Nottingham Forest are charged by the Premier League for breaches of the league's profit and sustainability rules. The hearing has to be concluded within 12 weeks of this date, which is 8 April

8 March (approximate): Forest's hearing takes place

18 March: Forest are docked four points and drop into relegation zone

25 March: Forest appeal is submitted

25 March: Everton's hearing is taking place this week

1 April (UK Bank Holiday): The seven-day deadline for a response to Forest's appeal

8 April (approximate): 'Directions hearing' to set a date for an appeal hearing, which will last between one and three days and conclude no later than 24 May. It is likely to be much earlier in Forest's case

19 May: The final day of the Premier League season, when Forest travel to Burnley and Everton visit Arsenal (16:00 BST)

24 May: The latest possible date for an appeal hearing into either the Everton or Forest cases to be concluded