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Bournemouth face FFP fine, Fulham and Nottingham Forest face possible transfer embargo

American investors Peak 6 have bought a 25 per cent share of Bournemouth FC
Image: Bournemouth face a financial sanction after FFP breach

The Football League has announced Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest and Fulham will be sanctioned after breaching Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.

Bournemouth, who won the Championship last season, will be subject to a financial sanction, while Nottingham Forest and Fulham will be subject to an FFP embargo - in the form of a transfer ban - for the remainder of the season.

All three clubs have exceeded the maximum £6m permitted as a 'maximum deviation' - clubs cannot spend more than £6m of what they generate in revenue.

Bournemouth face the most severe punishment because their spending resulted in them gaining the competitive advantage of promotion to the Premier League.

The worst case scenario is that the club are fined 100 per cent of the excess over £10m but the fines are assessed on a sliding scale; for example if they are found to have spent up to £10m above the £6m threshold - so £16m in total - they'll be asked to pay 80 per cent of that £10m back as a fine.

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Football League Chief Executive Shaun Harvey outlines the new Financial Fair Play regulations

The punishment for Nottingham Forest and Fulham is less severe because they have remained in the Championship instead of gaining promotion.

They will, however, be subjected to a transfer embargo for the remainder of the current season and cannot sign a player without allowing one to leave. There are other stipulations that the player going out has to be similar in value - in terms of both transfer fees and wages - as the player coming in.

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Millwall also fell foul of the regulations but will not face any further sanction following the club's relegation to League One as they are not deemed to have gained any significant advantage.

Bolton did not submit an FFP return owing to the club's ongoing financial difficulties and as a result, the club will not be allowed to sign players until it has complied with its obligations under Championship regulations.

The Football League have also confirmed they are still in discussions with a number of other clubs over their FFP submissions and have not ruled out issuing any further embargoes.

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