Fifteenth-placed Nottingham Forest and seventeenth-placed Everton were charged by the Premier League for a breach of the Premier League's profitability and sustainability rules (PSR), media reports said on Monday. Earlier this season, Everton were handed a 10-point penalty by the league after a report found the club guilty of financial rule violations.
The two sides have now been referred to the chair of the Judicial Panel who will appoint an independent commissions to determine the appropriate sanction, the top-tier English league was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Forest, who have not previously run afoul of the regulations, become the third club to have been charged by the Premier League, following Everton and champions Manchester City.
The East Midlands club were in the second-tier Championship until 2022, where clubs are permitted a maximum loss of 39 million pounds across three seasons, or 13 million pounds per season, meaning their permissible losses over the last three campaigns would add up to 61 million pounds.
Upon their promotion ahead of the 2022-23 season, Forest broke the record for most transfers (21) by a Premier League club in the close-season window.
"The club intends to continue to cooperate fully with the Premier League on this matter and are confident of a speedy and fair resolution," Nottingham said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
Club statement.
— Nottingham Forest (@NFFC) January 15, 2024
Meanwhile, the official statement by the Toffees read, "Everton can assure its fans that it will continue to defend its position during the ongoing appeal and, should it be required to do so, at any future commission and that the impact on supporters will be reflected as part of that process."
Club Statement. pic.twitter.com/iFgMCpsR5G
— Everton (@Everton) January 15, 2024
According to the Premier League's Financial Fair Play regulations, clubs are permitted to lose a maximum of 105 million pounds ($133.63 million) over a three-year period.
Earlier this year, Manchester City were also referred to an independent commission over more than 100 alleged breaches of finance rules since the club were acquired by the Abu Dhabi-based City Football Group in 2008. No verdict has been reached in that case.