Manchester United will be hit with a £10 million penalty every time they fail to qualify for the Champions League under the terms of their new £90 million-a-year kit deal with Adidas. The clause will come into force from next year and is a change to the existing deal, whereby United were only penalised if they did not qualify for the competition for two seasons in a row. The original ten-year deal, worth £750 million, expires in 2025. The new one runs until 2035 and the details were included in United’s half-yearly financial accounts, released this week. Bonuses up to a maximum of £4.4 million a year will be paid should either United’s men’s or women’s team win “the Premier League or Women’s Super League respectively, FA Cup or continental competitions”. The original penalty clause was never invoked, as United never missed out on the Champions League for two consecutive seasons, but had they done so it would have prompted a 30 per cent deduction, worth about £22 million. The ha
Nottingham Forest are expecting to discover their profit and sustainability (PSR) fate on Monday. A hearing to decide on what punishment the club will face for breaching PSR regulations was held last week, on Thursday and Friday. It remains unclear exactly what punishment Forest will receive for the breaches — which came during their first season back in the top flight, in 2022-23 — but they will have until April 15 to decide whether they wish to appeal the verdict reached by a three-person independent panel. The six-point deduction Everton have received (reduced from 10 points on appeal) for similar breaches is regarded by some as a potential bellwether for what Forest can expect — but nobody knows for certain what will happen. If they do appeal, the backstop for that process to be completed would be May 24, five days after the end of the Premier League season. Everton are also still facing a second round of charges, stemming from breaches during the 2022-23 campaign. There is