Awoniyi, Aina, Dennis Hit with Points Deduction as EPL Hammers Forest

This is not the best of times for the Nigerian trio of Taiwo Awoniyi, Ola Aina and Emmanuel Dennis following points deduction slammed on Nottingham Forest for breaching Premier League profit and sustainability rules.

An independent commission found Forest’s losses in 2022-23 breached the threshold of £61m by £34.5m and the immediate sanction means the club will have to endure with four-point deduction with the struggling team now deep in the relegation zone.

They drop below Luton Town into the Premier League’s relegation zone.

Forest 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.

Forest, who are likely to appeal against the ruling, had a hearing on 7-8 March.

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.

The commission found Forest demonstrated “exceptional cooperation” with the Premier League during the process.

The reasoning for the four-point deduction has been outlined in the commission’s written findings.

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” saw that 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.

Forest 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.