Football finance expert Kieran Maguire says Nottingham Forest's punishment for breaching financial rules "does seem harsh".
Forest was handed a four-point deduction after being found to have exceeded the £61m yearly loss threshold by £34.5m.
As a newly promoted club, the Reds did not have the benefit of having the £105m yearly loss threshold of established clubs in the Premier League.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, Maguire said: "Forest were having to operate with one hand held behind their back because they were allowed to lose only £61m over three years because they had just been promoted from the Championship whereas other established clubs in the Premier League - the likes of Crystal Palace or Brighton - they could lose £105m, so it does seem harsh.
"If Forest were allowed to lose £105m, they would've been just within the allowable limit and we wouldn't be having this conversation.
"The reason for that [the differential] is that if clubs have been in the Championship they're only allowed to lose £13m each year and if they've been in the Premier League they're allowed to lose £35m, so in the case of Forest it was 35 plus two 13s, which gave them a loss of £61m, which was their target."
A new financial system, likely to be based on Uefa's model, is currently being considered by the Premier League and clubs to replace the current profit and sustainability rules.
Uefa's rules limit spending on player and coach wages, transfers, and agent fees to a percentage of the club's revenue, starting at 90% this season and reducing to 70% from 2025-26.
Maguire added: "We're almost certain to change to a wage cap from the summer of 2024. Unfortunately, that will just reinforce the existing imbalances within the game because you can have a club such as Manchester City which generates £700m a year and can spend 70% of its income - so it can spend £490m on wages and a club such as Forest, perhaps generating £200m, can only spend £140m on wages.
"So we're not going to have better rules, were just going to have different ones."