Nottingham Forest failed in its appeal against a four-point penalty for breaching Premier League financial rules, the English top flight announced on Tuesday.
The club was hit with the sanction by an independent commission in March for breaching the profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) threshold of £61 million ($76 million) by £34.5 million.
Forest quickly indicated its intention to appeal but an independent appeal board panel has upheld the original penalty, which relates to a three-year assessment period ending with the 2022-23 season.
It means the 17th-placed club remain on 29 points, three points above the relegation zone, with two games left to play.
Forest had sought a reduction in the punishment because it felt the original commission should have taken the big-money sale of Brennan Johnson to Tottenham, two months after the end of the financial year ending 2023, into account as a mitigating factor.
They also felt the original commission had made a mistake by not wholly or partially suspending the sanction.
A release published on the Premier League website read: “The club argued that the independent commission committed an error in not treating its sale of a high-profile player shortly after the assessment period as a mitigating factor, and that it committed a further error in electing not to suspend some or all of the points deduction it imposed.
“Each of these grounds was rejected by the appeal board, which found the independent commission was entitled to immediately impose the sanction it did.
“The four-point deduction will therefore remain in place.”
In November, Everton was docked 10 points for breaching PSR, reduced to six on appeal, while a separate two-point deduction imposed on the club for a separate breach is under appeal.
The Goodison Park club are now clear of relegation danger following a run of good results.
Premier League clubs are usually allowed maximum losses of £105 million over a three-year assessment period but this is reduced by £22 million per season for any seasons within the period spent in the Championship.
Forest, two time European champions, were promoted to the Premier League in May 2022, meaning two seasons of their three-year assessment period were as a second-tier club.
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© Agence France-Presse