Nottingham Forest could take legal action against Sky Sports after Gary Neville likened the club’s response to Sunday’s penalty controversy to a ‘mafia gang’.
The former Manchester United right-back called out Forest’s statement calling into question the integrity of VAR official Stuart Attwell.
“It’s like a mafia gang statement, honestly,” Neville told Sky Sports.
“I mean what are they playing at? Look, I think anybody and everybody would have empathy and some sympathy for Forest this season with some of the decisions that they’ve had. The statement is like a petulant child. It’s embarrassing. But they’re grabbing defeat from victory. They could say, ‘Why should we sit here and be badly done to and not say anything’. You can potentially come out at the end of the game – and the manager is a great spokesman at the end of the game, so is your captain – and say that we’re not accepting the quality of decisions that are going against us, and that would have a real impact.
“Today has been a horrendous day for Nottingham Forest. Possibly horrendous because of the decisions that they’ve had, but horrendous for how they’ve reacted to the situation. To mention the VAR official as being a Luton fan and inferring in some way that’s had an impact on the decision-making process and suggesting to me as a fan, thinking ‘Has he cheated us’, you’re into really dangerous territory.”
He added: “Mark Clattenberg must resign tonight. If he saw those words go out in which they question the integrity of a referee and claim someone is a cheat for supporting another club, then he’s supporting what is being said. He would lose all credibility with referees in the game. He should stand down tonight and distance himself from that statement.”
According to the Daily Mail, the Premier League club are weighing up their response with legal action being considered by Forest’s legal team.
It is believed a letter is being prepared by Forest for Sky Sports concerning what Neville said.
What happened?
Our focus was on United’s FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City on Sunday, but Premier League action took place elsewhere.
Within minutes of the full-time whistle of Forest’s defeat against Everton on Sunday, during which three strong penalty appeals were turned down, a Forest statement posted on X claimed that the club had ‘warned’ refereeing body PGMOL about VAR official Attwell being a fan of relegation rivals Luton Town ahead of the game.
All three incidents involved former United winger/full-back Ashley Young.
Neville felt the statement was written in poor taste.
Now the Premier League and the FA are investigating Forest’s post-match actions.
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