After Neville publicly called out Forest’s controversial statement calling into question the integrity of VAR official Stuart Attwell, the club are now weighing up their response. According to the Daily Mail, that could be in the form of legal action, with Forest’s legal department said to be drafting a letter to Sky concerning what Neville said.
Nottingham Forest could take legal action against Sky Sports after Gary Neville likened club’s response to penalty controversy to a ‘mafia gang’.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Minutes after the full-time whistle ended Sunday’s Premier League loss to Everton—a match in which three penalty appeals were rejected—a Forest statement on X stated that the team had “warned” refereeing body PGMOL prior to the match about VAR official Attwell’s support for Luton, the team’s relegation rivals. Neville was not amused by the comment, and both the FA and the Premier League are looking into what Forest did.
WHAT NEVILLE SAID
In an analysis of the incident for Sky Sports, Neville remarked, “It’s like a mafia gang statement, honestly.” “Well, what exactly are they playing? Let’s face it, given some of the decisions Forest has made this season, I believe that everyone can sympathise with them. The assertion resembles a whiny toddler. It’s awkward. However, they are seizing victory from failure. They might ask, “Why should we just sit here and get screwed over and say nothing?” When the game is about to end, you might say something like, “We’re not accepting the quality of decisions that are going against us,” and your captain and manager would both be excellent spokesman
“Mark Clattenberg has to step down tonight,” he continued. He is endorsing what is being said if he witnessed those remarks, which cast doubt on the impartiality of the referee and call someone a liar for backing a different team. He wouldn’t be taken seriously by the referees during the game. He need to resign tonight and take ownership of that assertion.”
WHAT NEXT FOR FOREST?
Forest, which lost four points for breaking financial regulations, is still one spot and one position above the bottom three. They still have the ability to stay in the first flight. They have four games left, two of which are against relegation-threatened teams (Burley and Sheffield United), but they also have to play Manchester City and a strengthening Chelsea. Because of this scenario, they can still receive a fine at the end of the season.
