Forest did not ask for VAR official to be changed
Published: 22 April 2024, 9:04:22
Nottingham Forest did not ask for Stuart Attwell to be taken off video assistant referee duties for their match against Everton, BBC Sport has been told.
Following their 2-0 defeat at Goodison Park on Sunday, Forest posted on X, external that they are “considering their options” over “extremely poor” refereeing decisions they felt went against them.
The club said they had “warned” the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) that “the VAR is a Luton fan but they didn’t change him”.
But, BBC Sport has also been told Forest did not express that they had an issue with Attwell’s involvement.
Forest were frustrated about three penalty claims during the Premier League match, all of which involved Everton defender Ashley Young and none of which went their way.
Forest felt he caught the back of Gio Reyna’s boot in attempting to make a tackle when the game was goalless before a Callum Hudson-Odoi cross struck Young on the arm late in the first half.
The third incident happened after the interval as Young challenged Hudson-Odoi from behind but the officials ruled he had won the ball cleanly.
Forest posted on X after the game: “Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept.
“Our patience has been tested multiple times.”
After a series of what they saw as decisions against them, Forest hired former referee Mark Clattenburg as their referee analyst.
And the retired official wrote a column in the Mail on Sunday in which he said Forest had been “left feeling victimised after another defeat in which zero big decisions went their way”.
On Monday, Young appeared to make light of the situation in a post on X, external writing “Old Skool Tunes For Today” with a picture of him playing the Justin Timberlake song ‘Cry Me A River’.
The result leaves Forest 17th in the Premier League, one point above the relegation zone with four games remaining.
Forest’s appeal against their four-point punishment for breaching profit and sustainability rules (PSR) will be heard on Wednesday, 24 April.
