- Nottingham Forest released an extraordinary statement blasting PGMOL
Forest lost 2-0 to the Toffees at Goodison Park with goals from Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil leaving Nuno Espirito Santo’s men just a point above the relegation zone.
However, Nottingham Forest issued an official statement highlighting “three extremely poor decisions” in Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Everton.
The club referenced three penalty shouts that were waved away during the match and implied VAR official Stuart Attwell was biased against Forest because he’s “a Luton fan.”
The Midlands club, entrenched in a relegation battle at the bottom of the Premier League, also claimed they had warned PGMOL about bias from a VAR official.
The club posted on X, formerly Twitter, from their official account: “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.”
The FA have since confirmed that they will investigate Forest’s statement as it calls into question the integrity of the game.
Forest remain just one point and one place above the Hatters in the drop zone after fellow Premier League strugglers Everton eased their own relegation concerns following goals from Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil.
However, the game could have been turned on its head had Ashley Young been punished for any of the three penalty appeals levelled against him during the match.
The relegation-threatened midlands club were furious not to be awarded spot-kicks by Anthony Taylor for challenges on Giovanni Reyna and Callum Hudson-Odoi by Ashley Young, who in the meantime had looked fortunate to escape a handball decision, with Attwell backing the referee.
Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo backed the club’s statement overall but played down the importance of Attwell’s allegiances.
Asked whether he agreed with his club’s stance, he said: “Yes I share (the view) because I saw the images. You see it so clearly, you don’t understand why the decision was against us.
“I honestly think the situation with Gio Reyna in the first half was a clear one and the handball, we can ask because if not, the ball goes to (Chris) Wood and there is an incident with Callum and Ashley Young.
“I share the feeling of the club because it is not only this game, it has been a while for poor decisions against us. It is not an excuse but we are not comfortable with the referees.”