NOTTINGHAM FOREST are at war with the Prem, the FA AND PGMOL.
An astonishing day of claim and counter-claim over the fall-out from Sunday’s defeat at Everton saw:
*Forest demand the public release of the conversations between ref Anthony Taylor and VAR Stuart Attwell
*The FA announce they wanted urgent explanations from Nuno Espirito Santo, Neco William and ex-Prem whistler Mark Clattenburg
*Forest then repeating allegations that refs’ chief Howard Webb was asked to take Luton fan Attwell off VAR duties for Sunday’s contentious Goodison clash before suggesting their “fears of a sideshow” had come true
*Prem chiefs then signalling they will bring their OWN charges against Forest for the incendiary outing of Attwell as a Hatters supporter and implying he was biased against them.
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It left tension between the club and the authorities at boiling point with a series of statements issued cranking up the heat.
Forest remain furious over the three penalty decisions that went against them in the relegation six-pointer while Webb is insistent the central claim that he was asked to take Attwell OFF the match is simply untrue.
Webb’s position is that, while he did receive a call from Clattenburg on Friday, it was to inform him that Forest thought Espirito Santo might be asked about Attwell’s appointment as VAR in his pre-match news conference.
Managers and players have been warned that ANY pre-match comments about officials is an offence, although the question was then not asked.
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But Webb is adamant that Clattenburg categorically did not ask for the appointment to be changed and that Forest said they had no problem with it.
Forest raised the temperature as they made their demand for the audio recordings of conversations between Attwell and ref Anthony Taylor to be played out on TV.
A club spokesman said: “Nottingham Forest has today submitted a formal request to the PGMOL to release into the public domain the audio recordings between officials during yesterday’s match against Everton at Goodison Park.
“The club has requested this be shared for three key match incidents – Ashley Young’s challenge on Giovanni Reyna (24th minute), Ashley Young’s handball (44th minute) and Ashley Young’s challenge on Callum Hudson-Odoi (56th minute).
“We firmly advocate for the broader football community and supporters to have access to the audio and transcript for full transparency, ensuring the integrity of our sport is upheld.”
Young added another layer when he posted an image of Justin Timberlake’s 2002 song “Cry Me a River”, adding the caption “Old Skool Tunes for Today” accompanied by two winking face emojis.
Soon after the Forest statement, the FA said it had “formally requested observations” from Forest, Espirito Santo, Williams and Clattenburg into their public comments.
Espirito Santo’s interviews included him saying “it’s been clear what has been happening to us” and suggesting “if we were in another country, we will start speaking about conspiracy” while Williams claimed: “The top six teams will get decisions and we won’t.”
Then the Prem issued its own statement, saying it was “extremely disappointed” with Forest’s comments and adding: “It is never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials, and the nature of these comments means the Premier League will also be investigating the matter in relation to the League’s Rules.”
Forest could be charged under Prem Rules B.15 and B.16.
They demand that club officials act “with utmost good faith” to the League and that every club must “conduct itself in an abusive, derogatory, insulting, intimidating or offensive manner towards any (other) Club or the League”.
Yet that only sparked a further response from Forest who doubled down on Sunday’s initial post-match statement.
The club said: “This was an issue we raised with PGMOL prior to the fixture because of the fear of the side show that would ensue if anything went wrong with officiating in the game.
“That fear has materialised, as the correctness of three important decisions against the Club have been called into doubt.”
Forest made a partial climbdown as the club added: “This is not about individuals but rather how the integrity of the game is seen.
“We know match officials do not allow outside factors to influence their decision-making and that all referees are required to declare their ‘allegiances’ to PGMOL to avoid any perceived conflict or harm to the game’s reputation for integrity.
“However, it is clear PGMOL must amend its rule on allegiances to account for contextual rivalries in the league table, not just local rivalries.
“This is currently not within the criteria but should be. Mere reliance on match officials to recuse themselves if contextual rivalries exist invites conjecture, as some have recused themselves where others have not.”
While Attwell is a Luton fan, he, along with all over referees and officials must declare his club allegiance each season, meaning he will not be assigned to Hatters’ games or certain other matches involving direct local rivals.
Even the affiliation of a referee’s family can be enough to prevent them being appointed to matches involving certain teams.
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It has been noted, however, that Luton’s cause in terms of avoiding the drop would actually have been better served by the match at Goodison finishing as a draw, as it would have kept the Bedfordshire side close to both clubs at the foot of the table.
And while Forest insisted the club only wanted “greater transparency” over ref appointments and that, given a season of controversy “any move which boosts confidence in the system should be properly considered” the outcome is almost certain to be an extremely expensive one.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
