Birmingham City are in their eighth consecutive season in the Championship
Birmingham City have been deducted nine points by the English Football League for breaching profitability and sustainability rules.
The sanction sees Blues drop from 13th to 18th in the Championship, five points above the relegation zone with eight games to play.
The EFL said Blues incurred losses of nearly £48.8m between 2015 and 2018.
That is almost £10m more than the accepted losses of £39m over a three-year period.
Both Birmingham City and the EFL have 14 days to appeal against the decision of an Independent Disciplinary Commission, which considered the matter on Monday.
It is understood that there will be no further financial penalties for the club, nor will they be under a future transfer embargo relating to this issue.
They are the first club to be deducted points since the EFL introduced its new profitability and sustainability regulations at the start of the 2016-17 season.
In January, Birmingham revealed a £37.5m loss in the 12 months to the end of June 2018, largely a result of their wage bill rising from £22m to almost £38m after an extensive recruitment drive in 2017.
The independent panel heard that Blues had spent £7.45m to sign four new players in January 2017, when Gianfranco Zola was manager, and a further £23.75m to add 14 players to the squad that summer, by which time Harry Redknapp had taken charge.
Both Zola and Redknapp were sacked by the club after short stints as manager, the costs of which were also given as factors to Birmingham's rule breach.
Pedersen signing 'not an aggravating factor'
The panel decided that the signing of defender Kristian Pedersen in the summer of 2018 should "not be treated as an aggravating factor" in the case, which could have incurred a greater penalty for Birmingham.
The club was told by the EFL via email on 2 May 2018 that they were under a registration embargo as it was "reliant on future player transfers in order to fulfil the P&S requirement".
However, Blues agreed a deal with German club Union Berlin for Pedersen, and attempted to register him on 29 June.
The EFL said in August that they were "exceptionally disappointed" Blues had gone through with the transfer, but allowed Pedersen to join the Championship club.
When their transfer embargo was lifted, Birmingham were told they would be permitted to make five signings in August under EFL guidance and signed four players, with Sweden midfielder Kerim Mrabti joining on a free transfer in January.
