Nottingham Forest’s Premier League financial breach case will be heard next week.
An Independent Commission will hear the case on Thursday and Friday, 7 and 8 March, with leading sports lawyer Nick de Marco KC leading the Forest defence.
Forest were charged in January for alleged breaches of the league’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) in their 2022-23 accounts.
The outcome of the case could affect their Premier League survival.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s side sit one place off the relegation zone with 24 points, four points ahead of Luton who have a game in hand.
Under Premier League regulations, clubs can lose a maximum of £105m over a three-season period, or £35m per campaign, before facing sanctions.
It is likely Forest will argue one of the reasons why they exceeded the limit was because they opted not to sell forward Brennan Johnson before the 30 June accounting deadline in order to maximise the fee.
They eventually sold Johnson to Tottenham for a fee in excess of £45m on 1 September.
A verdict is not expected until April and would be subject to appeal.
On Monday, Everton’s penalty for breaching the Premier League’s financial rules was reduced from 10 points to six after the club appealed against the immediate deduction they received in November last year.
But the Toffees are also waiting to find out if they will be punished for further alleged breaches in their accounts for 2022-23, for which they were charged in January along with Forest.
The Premier League said at the time that both clubs “have each confirmed that they are in breach of the league’s profitability and sustainability rules”.
A date for Everton’s hearing is not yet known but it must be heard by 8 April. However, any appeal could take that process to 24 May, the week after the season has concluded.
