Nottingham Forest fined £750,000 by FA after questioning integrity of match officials
Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 by the Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute after ruling the club questioned the integrity of a match official following their loss to Everton last season.
The club complained on X about three penalty decisions that went against them during a 2-0 defeat by the Toffees at Goodison Park on 21 April.
Forest denied they had questioned the integrity of officials or brought the game into disrepute.
But an independent commission found against them, adding that it noted “clear evidence of a lack of genuine remorse” from Forest.
Forest’s social media post was made around five minutes after full-time in last season’s match at Goodison Park.
“Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept,” the club wrote on X.
“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.”
The VAR for the game was Stuart Attwell, and the FA said Forest’s post was an “attack on the integrity of a match official on an unparalleled scale”.
The governing body added that Attwell was the clear “victim” of Forest’s “ill-chosen and irresponsible” post.
Attwell submitted a statement to the panel, detailing the “stress, distress, fear and embarrassment” that had been caused to him by the post.
The FA asked Forest to delete the post but the club has not withdrawn it.
Forest had claims for penalties after Ashley Young’s challenge on Gio Reyna, his handball and then an attempted tackle on Callum Hudson-Odoi turned down by Anthony Taylor on the pitch, with video assistant referee Attwell not intervening.
The defeat left Forest – who eventually avoided relegation from the Premier League – one point above the bottom three.
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