Premier League club sues Sky Sports over negative comment from Man Utd hero | Football Achi-News

Neville was highly critical of Forest and their former refereeing analyst Mark Clattenburg after they released a statement questioning the VAR official following the 2-0 defeat to Everton last month.

Nottingham Forest, who are fighting relegation in the Premier League, said they were ‘considering their options’ after being on the wrong end of ‘extremely poor’ decisions at Goodison Park.

The club also said they had ‘warned’ the Professional Match Officials Board (PGMOL) that the VAR official – Stuart Attwell – ‘is ​​a Luton fan’.

The statement, posted on X five minutes after the game finished, said: ‘Three very poor decisions – three missed penalties – which we cannot accept.

‘Our patience has been tested many times.’

Sky Sports covered Forest’s statement following Liverpool’s win over Fulham at Craven Cottage, with Neville calling on former Premier League referee Clattenburg to resign.

‘Mark Clattenburg must resign tonight,’ he said. “If he saw those words going out that question the integrity of a referee and claim that someone is cheating to support another club then he supports 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.’

The former Manchester United and England defender added: ‘It’s like a mafia gang statement. I mean, really, what the hell are they playing at? He’s like a petulant child, he’s embarrassing.

‘And some of those things they say there, the suggestion of some kind of suggestion of cheating because there is an official in VAR at Stockley Park who is a Luton fan is a scandal, and they will pay for that.’

Nottingham Forest were said to be furious with Sky Sports’ coverage of the social media post and the club have now submitted a legal letter to the network, according to the Daily Mail.

Clattenburg took on an advisory role at the City Ground in February with the intention of helping players and staff better understand VAR and how decisions are made.

He resigned from the job on Friday, saying that he felt his role had ‘become more of a hindrance than a help’ to the club.

‘It has also led to me being undeservedly targeted, personally, by some participants and experts,’ he added.

‘I performed my services under the consultancy agreement in good faith, to the best of my ability and in the hope of using my extensive experience as a match official to help Nottingham Forest understand how decisions in relation to key match events are made in the middle of the work work. of VAR.’

Nottingham Forest were aggrieved by three penalty decisions during their defeat against Everton, with Attwell deciding not to send on-field referee Antony Taylor to the pitch-side monitor to review any of the incidents.

But that didn’t stop Nottingham Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo and defender Neco Williams from being accused by the Football Association of misconduct after Everton’s defeat.

Shortly after Forest’s tweet was posted, Nuno and Williams criticized the referees during their post-match media duties.

In a statement, the FA said: “Nottingham Forest, Nuno Espirito Santo and Neco Williams have been charged with misconduct in relation to comments they made after their Premier League match against Everton on Sunday 21 April.

‘It is alleged that the comments of the club, the manager and the player constitute inappropriate behavior as they imply bias and/or question the integrity of the match officials and/or bring the game into disrepute.’

Nottingham Forest – who boosted their survival hopes with a crucial 3-1 win at Sheffield United on Saturday – have until May 9 to respond to the charges.