The affair caused a stir this Sunday across the Channel. In a very important match for remaining in the Premier League (PL), Nottingham Forrest (17th and first non-relegation) was beaten 2-0 at Everton. The East Midlands team did not appreciate Anthony Taylor’s refereeing because penalties should have been awarded in their favor. Forest also indicates that the referee in charge of VAR would be a supporter of Luton (18th and first relegation). A club in direct competition with Nottingham in the fight for maintenance.
“Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not called – that we simply cannot accept,” the club wrote on X (formerly Twitter). We had warned the PGMOL (the body responsible for refereeing English professional football matches, editor’s note) that the VAR referee was a Luton fan before the match but they did not change it. Our patience was tested several times. The club will now consider their options. »
From Monday, Nottingham Forrest requested that the recording of conversations between video assistant referee Stuart Attwell and on-field referee Anthony Taylor be made public. Sources close to the refereeing body said the body had nothing to hide and would give Forest the opportunity to listen to the recording in private, as it would any other club making a request. similar.
This was also the case a little earlier in the season: a goal wrongly disallowed to Luis Diaz for Liverpool during a match at Tottenham had been made public, but in this case, there had been a serious error communication and the matter was therefore handled differently. For this, Nottingham Forest could be sanctioned again by the English Federation and the PL for having reacted violently to these alleged injustices after being penalized with 4 points last month following a breach of the financial rules of the PL .
Additionally, the managers said in a statement on Sunday that they had warned the PGMOL that the assistant referee was a Luton fan but that the body had not changed his appointment before requesting that the rules regarding player allegiances be changed. referees in terms of the teams of which they are supporters be updated to take into account “contextual rivalries in the championship standings. » With 4 days to go, Nottingham Forrest is one step ahead of Luton and three ahead of Burnley. Sheffield United (20th) is almost doomed.