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Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 and warned over their future conduct after posting comments about Stuart Attwell on social media in April.
The club had denied that the comments brought the game into disrepute by implying bias and/or questioning the integrity of match officials.
An independent regulatory commission found the Football Association charge proven.
Forest felt they should have been awarded three penalties during a defeat at Everton last season and after the game, they posted on their official X account: “Three extremely poor decisions - three penalties not given - which we simply cannot accept.
“We warned the PGMOL that the VAR (Attwell) 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.”
Forest also asked to listen to the VAR audio from the game, a request which Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) granted.
The club also called for PGMOL to take into account “contextual” rivalries when making referee and VAR appointments, but when the allegiances criteria were published at the start of this season this was not included.
Forest intend to appeal against the sanction.
A club statement read: “Nottingham Forest Football Club is extremely disappointed with the decision of the Regulatory Commission to impose a £750,000 fine in relation to comments posted on social media following our Premier League fixture against Everton on Sunday 21 April.
“We are particularly concerned that the FA, in its submissions, sought a sanction ‘in excess of £1,000,000’. We believe that this request, along with the subsequent fine, is wholly disproportionate and the club will be appealing the decision.”
On the day Forest were charged, their referee analyst Mark Clattenburg left the club having been given a formal warning by the FA over his comments about Attwell.
Comments made by manager Nuno Espirito Santo and defender Neco Williams in relation to the officiating at the Everton game also resulted in sanctions, with Nuno given a suspended one-match touchline ban, a £40,000 fine and a warning as to his future conduct, and Williams also warned and fined £24,000.
PA
