Kieran Maguire: “Discrimination against Nottingham Forest by Premier League rules”

Nottingham Forest will be “frustrated” at their failed points deduction appeal as they had the smallest allowable losses of any Premier League club.

That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that the regulations “seem to discriminate against” Forest.

Forest had their appeal against a four-point deduction rejected last week with the independent panel upholding the original decision.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are still at risk of relegation with Forest just three points above the drop zone in 17th.

Forest breached the Profit and Sustainability Rules by £34.5million in their 2022-23 accounts with the club only allowed to lose £61million over a three-year period as per the regulations.

Maguire explained that Forest’s allowable losses were the smallest in the Premier League so the club’s frustrations are understandable.

Nottingham Forest frustrated by £61m detail after failed appeal

“It was always a long shot that Nottingham Forest would be able to overturn the initial four-point deduction,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.

“The appeal was very much based on convincing the commission that the sale of Player A – who many people seem to be aware of – should be backdated.

“There seems to be little to justify such an adjustment, and it would have opened a can of worms.

“Other clubs have sold players at a potential discount before the 30th of June in order to comply with PSR.

“While there’s no doubt that Forest had some of the best legal minds working on the case for them, sometimes you have to accept that the rules are too far down the line.

“You can understand Forest’s frustration because they had the smallest allowable loss of any Premier League club, which does seem to discriminate against them.

“But discussing whether the rules are appropriate and fair is one thing, applying them is another.“