Premier League club Nottingham Forest accuses refereeing official of supporting rival team after defeat

In a surprising social media post after their 2-0 loss to Everton on Sunday, Nottingham Forest alleged that a Premier League referee official supported their relegation rivals Luton Town.

During the game, Forest believed that penalties should have been given in three cases. One of which was for handball while the other two were for fouls committed against the players of Forest, namely Giovanni Reyna and Callum Hudson-Odoi.

Referee Anthony Taylor did not impose any penalties for the three incidents. Video assistant referee (VAR) Stuart Attwell was in agreement with Taylor's decisions. Forest accused Attwell of showing favoritism towards Luton.

The loss means that Forest is now only ahead of Luton by a single point. Luton currently holds the 18th position and is at risk of being relegated, with only four matches left in the season.

The team expressed their dissatisfaction with three decisions that they considered extremely unfair, as three penalties were not awarded. This message was published on their social media account, X, which was previously known as Twitter. The club also stated that they had alerted the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) about the possibility of bias from the VAR, who is allegedly a fan of their opponent team, Luton. However, no action was taken to address this concern.

We have been put to the test many times, and now the next move for NFFC is up for consideration.

CNN has discovered that the Football Association in England is currently examining the post.

CNN has contacted the PGMOL, the Premier League, and Forest to provide them with an opportunity to share their thoughts and opinions.

Jamie Carragher, a Sky Sports commentator and previous Liverpool player, acknowledged that the referees had made mistakes in their judgments. Nevertheless, he labelled the statement released by Forest as "shameful."

In the post-game analysis on Sunday, he spoke about the current state of the Premier League and its clubs. He expressed his criticism towards Attwell and Taylor for performing poorly that day, but he also found the comments from Nottingham Forest to be very unprofessional. The remarks he read were similar to what a fan would say in a pub and he thought they were a source of shame for the team.

Gary Neville, who used to play as a defender for Manchester United and is also a pundit on Sky Sports, described the statement as "terrible".

He stated that it dishonors the club's admirable past, and the implied fraudulent behavior is absurd. Additionally, insinuating that the official is biased towards Luton Town is baseless. The speaker is unsure of the meaning behind the statement "explore all options."

On Monday, Forest released a new statement disclosing that they have officially asked the PGMOL for the audio recording of the conversation between Taylor and Attwell.

The statement mentioned that the club wanted to share three important match incidents. These incidents were related to Ashley Young. The first one was a challenge he made on Giovanni Reyna in the 24th minute. The second one was a handball he committed in the 44th minute. And the third one was a challenge he made on Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 56th minute.

We strongly support the idea of providing the football community and fans with audio and written records to maintain transparency and preserve the authenticity of our sport.

Mark Clattenburg, a previous referee in the Premier League and now a referee consultant for Forest, confirmed the statement the club made in his column for Britain's Daily Mail newspaper.

Clattenburg wrote that Notthingham Forest felt unfairly treated after their recent loss, as they received no support from referees despite a series of mistakes. This situation was frustrating for them, especially since they faced several errors that affected the outcome of the game.

You probably noticed the club's announcement about the PGMOL being notified that it was unsuitable for Attwell, a supporter of Luton, to have such an influential position in a significant game that could affect the relegation battle.

Definitely, I wouldn't have taken such a chance if I held the position as the leader of the referees. If the PGMOL had only made more intelligent selections, this entire scenario could have been prevented.

"Referees don't intentionally make mistakes, but it was quite puzzling to witness. Only Attwell can explain why he didn't send Taylor to review the play on the screen."

Challenging the credibility of a match official has caused people to get into difficulties with the FA before. In 2023, the coach of Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, was penalized with a penalty of two matches and a fine for suggesting that a referee showed prejudice in remarks made after the game.

During 2016, Keith Hackett, who was previously in charge of PGMOL, informed the BBC that referee's personal information is carefully examined before the beginning of every season.

According to Hackett, individuals fill out a form which entails information about the team they endorse, their past experience playing the game, and the location of their current residence.

This helps you make a decision when making appointments. It's important to make sure you don't select a referee from the same location as the team they will be officiating.