Nottingham Forest punished by FA for furious outburst on social media

Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 by the Football Association for comments made on social media about VAR Stuart Atwell in April.

It followed a game against Everton in which Forest believed they should've been awarded three penalties by referee Anthony Taylor during the 2-0 defeat.

Taylor wasn't sent to the monitor by VAR Atwell - something the Forest X account pointed out following the contest.

Posting on their official X account, Nottingham Forest said: "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 had been embroiled in a relegation battle with Luton, who eventually went down at the Tricky Trees' expense.

But it hasn't stopped the Nottingham-based outfit from being handed a punishment for their outburst.

Forest eventually finished six points clear of Luton in the relegation zone, with the Hatters joining Burnley and bottom-placed Sheffield United in the Championship.

A statement from the FA on Friday read: "Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 and warned for misconduct in relation to comments posted on social media after their Premier League game against Everton on Sunday 21 April.

"The club denied that the comments posted on social media imply bias and/or question the integrity of the match officials and/or the video assistant referee and/or bring the game into disrepute.

"An independent Regulatory Commission found the charge to be proven following a hearing and imposed the club’s sanctions. Its written reasons for these decisions can be read in full below."

Speaking at the time, manager Nuno Espirito Santo commented: “My personal feeling is about referees not taking decisions on the pitch. They were doing it before so they should do it again, and then comes VAR - not the other way around. The other way around is a huge mistake for the game.

“I can speak and tell my opinion and try to be honest. The general feeling in football is referees are not taking their own decisions so this is affecting a lot.

"They are not taking their decisions, and waiting for the VAR to intervene is not helping the situation. Referees are the authority on the pitch and then VAR should help. What we want is to move forward.”