Nottingham Forest issued a scathing statement after their 2-0 Premier League defeat to Everton on Sunday.
Stuart Attwell has emerged as the focus of the current refereeing controversy following Nottingham Forest’s 2-0 defeat to Everton.
The match between the two sides took place at a critical stage in the Premier League season, as both are fighting for survival after losing points.
Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil scored to send Nuno Espirito Santo’s side down, leaving them only one point clear of the dropzone and bringing the Blues five points away from the bottom three. The game was overshadowed by Forest’s indignant statement, which was released on X immediately following their defeat.
“Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept,” he said.
“We informed the PGMOL before the game that the VAR is a Luton fan, but they did not change him. Our patience has been challenged several times. “NFFC will now consider its options.”
The allegation concerns three penalty shouts for Forest on Merseyside, with Ashley Young at the centre of it. He evaded punishment for a kick on Giovanni Reyna in the penalty area, and no further action was taken when the ball struck his hand midway through the first half.
Young took down Callum Hudson-Odoi as he attempted to rush through on goal, but Young chose to play the ball.
In all three cases, VAR reviewed the play sequences but found no obvious errors.
Forest’s forceful statement highlights their accusations to the PGMOL about the video assistant referee being a Luton fan. The ECHO understands that every Premier League official must declare allegiances and will not be given matches or any fixtures featuring that team’s immediate opponents.
Other considerations that influence appointments include how many times an official has refereed each club during the season, which teams their close family members support, and performance.
In 2016, former PGMOL boss Keith Hackett detailed how the process of appointing referees works, saying: “At the start of each season, the referees’ background information is checked. They fill out a form that specifies who they support, whether or not they have previously played the game, and their current addresses.
“That offers you an image that you can utilize when making appointments. It’s about ensuring that, for example, a Sheffield-based referee is not appointed to a Sheffield squad.”
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