Nottingham Forest Fined £750,000 For Accusing VAR Of Bias

Nottingham Forest has been fined £750,000 by the Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute after the club questioned the integrity of a match official following their defeat to Everton last season.

The FA ruled that Forest’s comments on social media, posted shortly after their 2-0 loss at Goodison Park on April 21, crossed the line by criticizing three penalty decisions.

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The club had posted on X (formerly Twitter) about the decisions, stating: “Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept.”

Despite Forest denying that their post questioned the officials’ integrity, an independent commission ruled against the club, citing “clear evidence of a lack of genuine remorse.”

In response, Forest expressed their intent to appeal, calling the ruling “extremely disappointing” and “wholly disproportionate.” The club maintains that they did not breach FA regulations.

The controversy stems from the 55th minute of the match, when an independent panel reviewing key match incidents determined that Forest should have been awarded a penalty for Ashley Young’s challenge on Callum Hudson-Odoi.

“We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game, but they didn’t change him,” Forest added on X after the match. “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.

Forest were asked to delete the post by the FA but the club has not withdrawn it.

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The FA had sought a fine in “excess of £1m” to “properly reflect the seriousness of the misconduct” but the commission settled on £750,000.

Forest’s lawyer asked the commission to consider if a proportion of the sanction could be suspended “in order to act as a deterrent to the club”.

In response, the commission said it saw “no reason for doing so in this case”.

Forest’s penalty appeals were denied by referee Anthony Taylor following Ashley Young’s challenge on Gio Reyna, his handball, and a tackle on Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Video assistant referee Stuart Attwell chose not to intervene. The result saw Everton move five points clear of the relegation zone, while Forest remained just one point above 18th-placed Luton.

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