Nottingham Forest launched an extraordinary attack on the referee’s ruling body, claiming they ignored their protests over appointing “Luton fan” Stuart Attwell as the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for their 2-0 defeat at relegation rivals Everton, where they were denied three penalty kick claims.
The defeat left Forest still one point above the Hatters with four games remaining and after the final whistle blew at Goodison Park, they lashed out online at the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) group after referee Anthony Taylor waved away three spot-kicks.
And in reviewing the incidents at Stockley Park – of two possible fouls and a handball by Ashley Young – VAR Attwell did not instruct the official to change his decisions or look at the footage on the pitchside monitor.
But in a bizarre post on social media site X, formerly Twitter, the Reds wrote on their official page: “Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept. We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options.”
In his post-match interviews, Forest boss boss Nuno Espirito Santo appeared to back up the online claim, saying: “We knew and as a club we made a formal complaint saying that we would like to change the VAR situation. They didn’t do it and it’s here to see so it wasn’t good. I share the feeling of the club because it is not only this game. It has been a while that we have had poor decisions going against us. It is not an excuse but we are not happy with the work of the referees.
“I don’t understand the reason and the decision of Anthony Taylor and VAR Stuart Attwell, because I see the images. It’s understandable that we react like this as a club because we want to get things right. We don’t want bad referees. We want good decisions.”
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