Nottingham Forest call FA punishment ‘disproportionate’ after being levied a £750,000 fine by the governing body.
Nottingham Forest has said they would file an appeal with the Football Association following their £750,000 fine for their controversial social media post regarding VAR Stuart Attwell.
The FA’s suggestion that the club should pay a fine exceeding £1 million and the penalty assessed by an impartial panel were deemed “wholly inappropriate” by Forest.
Forest was fined and given a warning about their behaviour going forward on Friday for suggesting bias and/or casting doubt on the impartiality of match referees. Although the commission affirmed the FA’s conclusions, the club refuted the accusation.
Following the game on April 21, Forest wrote on their X account. Expressing their belief that they should have been awarded three penalties during a defeat against Everton last season.
“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 requested to hear the game’s VAR audio, and Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) complied. The club also demanded that PGMOL consider “contextual” rivalries when selecting referees and VARs. However, this request was left out of the allegiances criteria when they were released at the beginning of the current season.
In a statement following the fine, Forest expressed their “extreme disappointment with the decision.”
They said: “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.”
The commission said Attwell had set out in a statement “the stress, distress, fear and embarrassment caused to him as a result” of Forest’s post. It also said the impact on him had “plainly been very significant indeed”.