Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 by the Football Association for bringing the game into disrepute after ruling the club questioned the integrity of the match officials following their loss to Everton last season.
The club complained on X about three penalty decisions that went against them during a 2-0 defeat by the Toffees at Goodison Park on 21 April.
Forest denied they had questioned the integrity of officials or brought the game into disrepute.
But an independent commission found against them, adding that it noted “clear evidence of a lack of genuine remorse” from Forest.
Forest’s social media post was made around five minutes after full-time in last season’s match at Goodison Park.
“Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept,” the club wrote on X.
“Our patience has been tested multiple times.”
Claims for penalties after Ashley Young’s challenge on Gio Reyna, his handball and then an attempted tackle on Callum Hudson-Odoi were all turned down by Anthony Taylor on the pitch, with video assistant referee Stuart Attwell not intervening.
Forest also said they had “warned” the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMO) that the video assistant referee was a supporter of relegation rivals Luton Town.
The defeat left Forest – who eventually avoided relegation from the Premier League – one point above the bottom three.
The following day, the Daily Mail published a column from former referee Mark Clattenburg, who had taken a role as a referee analyst at Forest earlier in the campaign, defending the club’s actions and describing a “hat-trick of howlers” from the officials.
A fortnight later Clattenburg stepped down from the role, saying the job had created “unintended friction” between Forest and other Premier League clubs.
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