Nottingham Forest are expected to discover their punishment later today for potentially breaking financial rules. It’s a thorny subject which will inevitably mean more questions directed at Manchester City.. A hearing took place last week to decide Forest’s sanction after the club were charged with a breach of the top-flight’s profit and sustainability regulations earlier this year. Nuno’s team, who are currently in 17th place, face the possibility of a points deduction after previously seeing Everton handed such a penalty in what was deemed a benchmark punishment.. Reports suggest that Forest will learn the outcome of that hearing today – with the rest of the Premier League, Man City included, watching on intently.. Premier League rules say that clubs can only lose up to ÂŁ105 million over three years, or ÂŁ35m each season. This limit is lower for teams that have been promoted within the according three-year cycle. It means Forest have only been allowed to lose ÂŁ61m over the past three seasons – ÂŁ13m for the two seasons they spent in the Championship before moving up, plus ÂŁ35m last season. It is uncertain how much they are alleged to have gone over this limit.. Forest’s case is of interest to those at the Etihad Stadium, obviously, but it is a very different situation to the one City face. Last February, the Blues were charged with 115 allegations of breaching competition rules between 2009 and 2018 by the Premier League. The club denies all charges and has vowed to clear its name.. READ MORE: Premier League chief confirms Man City FFP hearing date. READ MORE: Man City watch on in disbelief as FFP fresh charges spark anger. Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said when speaking at a select committee: “They are very different charges. If any club, whether they are the current champions or otherwise, had been found in breach of the spending rules for year ’23, they would be in exactly the same position as Everton or Nottingham Forest.”. Everton remain the only Premier League club found to have broken the profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) and their 10-point deduction for the previous charge – relating to the 2021/2022 season – was a landmark decision. It was ultimately reduced to six points on appeal, but they now face a second charge before the season is out. The Toffeesâ hearing into their second charge has been scheduled for the back end of this coming week. It is reported they are likely to have to wait until next month to know their fate, with the suggestion they could be âleft in limbo until after Easterâ.. Everton, Nottingham Forest and everyone else agreed to a set of rule changes at the Premier League AGM in 2023 to speed up straightforward cases. City’s is not a straightforward case, hence the delay.. Masters has confirmed an as yet undisclosed start date has been set for City’s FFP trial with The Daily Mail suggesting that the hearing could begin sometime in Autumn of this year. It adds that should proceedings all go smoothly, a verdict could be delivered in the summer of 2025. Few further details about the case are expected to be known prior to the start of the hearing.. Given this is an unprecedented case, little is clear about what sanctions City could face if found guilty. That is why looking at Nottingham Forest and Everton’s case for a guide is, to an extent, pointless. However, if points deductions and fines are what the sanctions are in those two cases, with City’s charges a lot more serious, it does give some potential indication as to the direction of travel the Premier League could take if City are found guilty.. Points deductions and fines are clearly options but there could be the possibility that titles are stripped and relegation is enacted.
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