Nottingham Forest fined over €800,000 for criticising VAR on social media

The incident happened after the defeat to Everton in the Premier League last season; the English club insinuated that the referee was a fan of Luton, who were also fighting against relegation.

Nottingham Forest have been fined €800,000 and warned for misconduct after criticising video refereeing on social media following their 2-0 Premier League defeat to Everton last season.

The English club accused VAR chief Stuart Attwell of being a fan of Luton Town, a team also fighting against relegation. In the post, Forest complained that three penalties were not given to the team.

– Three wrong decisions, three penalties not given. This is something we cannot accept. We warned PGMOL (the Premier League refereeing body) before the game that the VAR is a Luton fan, but they did not change it. Our patience has been tested several times. Nottingham Forest will now evaluate its options – said the club on April 21, on social media.

The Football Association said the comments downplayed the bias and questioned the integrity of the referees and punished the club for this. Forest, in a statement, said the accusation was “wholly disproportionate” and said it would appeal.

At the time, Forest were involved in a relegation battle with Luton, but ended up finishing in 17th place. Luton were relegated to the second division.