 "Nottingham Forest have publicly slammed the VAR and demanded audio of officials be publicly released following their defeat to Everton. Reuters")
Nottingham Forest have asked the refereeing body, the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), to release the VAR audio from three incidents over the Premier League weekend. Forest suffered a 2-0 defeat at Everton and later publicly hit out at the officiating where they argue three penalty calls were denied. As a result, Forest have asked for the VAR audio from the incidents be made public.
Forest issued an atypical post on social media after the final whistle at Goodison Park saying they had “warned” PGMOL that VAR official Stuart Attwell is a fan of relegation rivals Luton.
In the relegation battle, Forest are just one point and one place above Luton, who are in the drop zone.
Which incidents have Nottingham Forest highlighted in their case?
Nottingham Forest have highlighted three moments in the match and all involve Ashley Young.
“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).”
In the first incident, Young appears to catch Reyna on the back of the heel. The VAR conducts the check but the call is dismissed.
In the second, Young is believed to have handled the ball in the area but VAR deems it to be too close to the body with little time to react either.
In the third, Young is believed to bring down Hudson-Odoi in the penalty box after a ball is played through from the midfield.
With all three calls being denied, Everton would go on to win 2-0 courtesy goals from Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil.
What did Nottingham Forest say in their latest statement?
“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,” Forest said in a statement on Monday.
“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.”
Has this happened before?
Yes. PGMOL have been pressured into releasing audio recordings of controversial incidents earlier in the season.
Referees’ chiefs were forced to admit an error after Liverpool had a goal at Tottenham wrongly ruled out for offside as the VAR officials thought the goal had been awarded.
Audio of other selected incidents has also been broadcast on the “Match Officials Mic’d Up” programme during the season, but the laws of the game prevent such audio being broadcast live.
What did Forest say in the immediate aftermath of the defeat?
Manager Nuno Espriti Santo said in response to the statement, “We’ve tried to ignore it but so many times it’s repeating – bad decisions against us… not given,” he told Sky Sports. “It’s very difficult to control the players and ask them to be focused and me myself to be composed, because it’s been very hard.”
“The situation we are in doesn’t help. We have some stress and fear but that is not an excuse. It’s been clear what has been happening to us, not only in this game. I saw the images, it’s hard to take, the players see the images.
“It’s a penalty on Gio Reyna, it’s a kick. It’s a handball, the incident with Callum (Hudson-Odoi). It’s understandable we react like this as a club because we want to get things right. We don’t want bad referees. We want good decisions.
“OK (if) the game we lost and there were no incidents we’d take it (and say) we didn’t play well enough but we did things right in the right moments and we’ve been disappointed by bad decisions.
“If we look at what is happening to us and count the situations we had, those decisions could mean points. These things, it’s hard to take. We feel they are taking things away from us and it’s very hard not to react to it.”
Defender Neco Williams labelled the decisions as “ridiculous” and called them “blatant” penalties.
He said on Sky Sports, “Listen, it’s three clear, blatant penalties. Everyone watching that game knew they were all penalties. They are clear.
“Every single week this happens now. We are getting decisions against us. I don’t know why. Is it because we are a lower bottom half of the table team? Because I guarantee all the top six teams are getting every single one of them.
“I know every single person watching that game today knew all three of them were clear, blatant penalties. It is ridiculous. It is week after week now we are getting these decisions against us.
“I am not here to make excuses; I am not that type of person. But every week it is something, and I don’t know what it is. It needs to stop, because it is three clear, blatant penalties.”
The Football Association (FA) has asked Espirito Santo, Williams and referee analyst Mark Clattenburg to explain the comments.
Forest had hired former referee Clattenburg in February as a consultant analyst to fight their corner after believing they had been on the wrong end of a series of contentious decisions.
Writing in his column for the Daily Mail, Clattenburg said: “One of these errors would have been bad enough.
“Three was a joke, and that is why Nottingham Forest were left feeling victimised after another defeat in which zero big decisions went their way.”
What has been the reaction?
Forest’s public blast at the officials has been hit with a backlash.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher accused the two-time European champions of sounding like a “fan in a pub.”
“Stuart Attwell and Anthony Taylor (the referee) have had an horrific day today, awful, and they should be rightly criticised for that and that could have real implications for Nottingham Forest,” said Carragher.
“I get the frustration, but that, what I’ve just read there on social media, that’s like a fan in a pub. That is embarrassing from Nottingham Forest. I get the frustration.”
Fellow pundit and former Manchester United defender Gary Neville called on Clattenburg to resign from his role with the club.
“If he sees those words go out, which question the integrity and essentially call a VAR official a cheat because he supports a certain club, then he’s supporting what’s being said and he would basically lose all credibility, I think, with referees in the game.”