Because Nottingham Forest publicly complained about the referee, the Premier League club will now have to pay.
As the Football Association (FA) announced, a fine of 750,000 pounds (896,352 euros) is due. The current tenth-placed team had complained on social media about “three extremely bad decisions” after their 2-0 defeat to Everton in April 2024 on the 34th matchday of last season, saying they had been denied a penalty three times.
In addition, the integrity of video assistant Stuart Atwell was questioned because he was allegedly a fan of Luton Town, who were in the relegation battle at the time. All three clubs were fighting to avoid relegation and were neighbors in the table.
The post on X at the time read: “Three extremely bad decisions – three penalties not given – we simply cannot accept that. We warned the PGMOL before the game that the VAR was a Luton fan, but they didn’t change him.” The club went on to say: ‘Our patience has already been tested on numerous occasions. The NFFC will now consider its options.’
Nottingham reacted with incomprehension to the punishment, which was confirmed by an independent commission. “Nottingham Forest is very disappointed with the decision,” the club said in a statement. “We are also particularly concerned that the FA demanded a penalty of more than a million pounds in its statement.” This, like the fine imposed, is “completely disproportionate”. The club will “appeal”.
Nottingham were relegated at the end of the 2023/24 season when they were 17th in the table, with Luton Town being relegated to the Championship along with the other promoted teams, Burnley and Sheffield United. This was despite Nottingham being docked four points and Everton, who were 15th in the table, being docked two points.