Jacko93
Player Valuation: £35m
From my understanding, the report argues that being candid and admitting a breach is not considered to be valid mitigation. Clubs are expected to be candid in this regard! Whereas failing to be candid, or deliberately being misleading in order to bypass the rules would be considered an aggravating factor.
I feel this is relevant to the Forest case. I’ve just read that Forest will be provided leniency due to admitting the breach, but I don’t think that is accurate!
On the contrary, Forest’s admission involves deliberately choosing not to sell a player in a relevant accounting period that would have decreased their breach for that period. This decision exacerbated their breach for the relevant period, and it was a deliberate decision! This is an aggravating factor, not a mitigating one!
That’s before you even get into the fact that said player was was selected to play for Forest during the following accounting period. Surely to God, they won’t be getting away with that type of excuse. It’s nonsensical, and so easily dismissed!
It is this same process and reasoning that should see Chelsea dealt with heavily. Their self reporting is treated as an expected action so no mitigating factor, whereas the dishonesty of their action in cheating the system will be an aggrevating factor. The fact that they are under different ownership should also not be a mitigating factor in the same way that the FAB were dismissed in their submissions and explained that the club was being punished, not any individuals.