Nottingham Forest’s Premier League rivals Chelsea avoided a points deduction for breaching Premier League rules
Nottingham Forest are considering their options after Chelsea’s controversial punishment for breaching Premier League rules(Image: PA)
Nottingham Forest are weighing up their options following the controversial sanction doled out to Chelsea for breaching Premier League rules.
The Blues avoided a points deduction after admitting breaking league regulations over £47.5 million of undisclosed payments made under former owner Roman Abramovich to help seal transfer deals. The club were given a one-year transfer ban, suspended for two years, and fined a total of £10.75m as part of a sanction agreement with the league.
The Premier League said the sanctions reflected the fact Chelsea’s new owners had self-reported the information which sparked its investigation and showed “exceptional co-operation” throughout. Nevertheless, the punishment prompted surprise within football as it is regarded by many as being particularly lenient.
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Two years ago, Forest were docked four points for falling foul of the Premier League’s Profitability and Sustainability Rules. Everton were deducted eight points during the same season, also for breaching PSR.
Forest are understood to have not yet taken a firm position on Chelsea’s sanction. It has been reported the club are considering making a formal complaint to the Premier League, while The Guardian have claimed the Reds and Everton are taking legal advice.
In Chelsea’s case, payments were made from third party entities which the Premier League said were “controlled by or associated with” Abramovich to unlicensed agents and individuals connected to selling clubs which helped to facilitate transfers for players including Eden Hazard, Samuel Eto’o and Willian. These payments, which the league said were made with the “knowledge and approval” of senior former Chelsea officials, were not properly disclosed.
The league’s board accepted that had the Blues’ new owners not proactively reported their concerns upon completing their takeover in 2022, the breaches would potentially never have been discovered. That, combined with Chelsea’s “exceptional co-operation” and the fact the payments would not have put the club in breach of PSR if they had been properly accounted for at the time, meant a points penalty was not deemed appropriate.
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Last week, Nick De Marco KC, who has previously represented Forest and Leicester City, did not comment directly on the Chelsea sanction but said it was vital a consistent approach was adopted by the football authorities.
He wrote on X: “When it is argued, in various football disputes, that points deductions must be imposed even for inadvertent breaches, in order to vindicate compliant clubs, one has to wonder whether that reflects a genuine commitment to consistent strict enforcement in all cases, or is simply a position adopted for the purposes of a particular case. Consistency is very important in sport – the lack of it can undermine public confidence in the integrity of the whole game.
“I do not comment on any one individual case, I just hope that those involved in the decision-making processes can see the merit in treating each case according to its particular circumstances rather than being inflexible in some, but very flexible in others. That, I am sure, would help restore the confidence in sports arbitration we all wish for.”
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