Nottingham Forest demand VAR audio from Everton match

Nottingham Forest have demanded that the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) hand over auto recordings between referees during their loss to Everton yesterday.

Forest once again felt aggrieved by big refereeing decisions during their 2-0 loss to Everton at Goodison Park yesterday, with no less than 3 penalty calls denied by referee Anthony Taylor.

This loss leaves them in 17th place and just a single point clear of the relegation zone, following the club’s recent 4-point deduction in the Premier League.

Concerns had been raised to the PGMOL about the involvement of VAR Stuart Attwell prior to the match taking place, with the official being a Luton Town fan.

Despite raising these concerns, it is claimed that the club did not request that Attwell be removed from service during their match with Everton, despite the possible impact it would have on the bottom end of the Premier League standings.

After the match yesterday, Nottingham Forest took to their X account to air their grievances about the officiating during their 2-0 loss.

The 3 decisions that the club were referring to all involved Everton’s Ashley Young.

The first incident was a challenge Young made no Giovanni Reyna in the 24th minute of the match.

At this stage, the matches deadlocked at 0-0, and Forest felt that Young clipped the back Reyna’s boot when challenging him inside the box – which would of course equate to a penalty kick.

Young’s second offence, in the eyes of Nottingham Forest if not the referees on the day, was a handball which blocked a cross from Callum Hudson-Odoi, once again inside the area.

Young’s third setoff came when he challenged Hudson-Odoi from behind inside the box in the late stages of the match – which would have equated to a third penalty and a possible 3-2 scoreline in Forest’s favour.

Forest once again took to their X account earlier today, announcing that they had requested the PGMOL to provide audio from conversations between officials during these 3 big decisions.

The club posted another update a few hours after in which they once again addressed the issue of potential referee bias, which they raised with the PGMOL before the match yesterday.

It is not yet known whether or not the PGMOL will allow Forest the recordings from the match against Everton, as the transparency of the game in the Premier League is called into question.

Forest also await their chance to appeal against their 4-point deduction tomorrow, which will greatly influence the mood and the outcome for everyone at the City Ground during the final weeks of the 2023/2024 season.