Mark Clattenburg did NOT ask for Stuart Attwell to be taken off VAR duties. But Clattenburg just alerted Webb to the fact that Forest were expecting to get questions about Attwell being a Luton fan at their pre-match press conference with Nuno Espirito Santo.
Attwell was on VAR duty while one of England’s top refs, Anthony Taylor, was in charge and turned away all three claims. Forest’s initial statement said: “Three extremely poor decisions – three penalties not given – which we simply cannot accept.
We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times.
NFFC will now consider its options.”
The former ref then wrote in a newspaper column: “Certainly, I would not have risked this situation if I were the head of the referees and all of this could have been avoided had the PGMOL simply made smarter appointments. “Referees do not make mistakes deliberately but this was mind-boggling to watch.
Why Attwell did not send Taylor to his screen, only he will know.”
Forest later released a statement urging the PGMOL to amend its rules around officials’ allegiances “to account for contextual rivalries in the league table”. “This is not about individuals but rather how the integrity of the game is seen,” their statement said.
Referees are asked who they support – and are never put directly in charge of their team. It is part of the process surrounding any official joining the elite PGMOL ranks to take charge of an EFL or Premier League game.
They will also never be put in charge of direct location rivals of their club so a Manchester United supporting-ref would not officiate a City game. Other factors include which teams their immediate family members support and it also comes down to performance.
Furthermore, refs are very rarely chosen to officiate on particular teams in quick succession. Neville said: “It’s horrendous, the statement by that football club, and it lets the proud history of that club down.
The inferred cheating, as suggested by a Luton fan being a VAR official, is absolutely ridiculous.”
Clattenburg took up his consultancy role at Forest in February with the idea of trying to help the club with their behavior and also get a better understanding on decisions and referees after a string of high-profile controversies. But Clattenburg was never given any special communication with Webb and they are not close or have a friendship.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis stormed onto the pitch and then confronted the officials in the tunnel after Darwin Nunez’s late winner was allowed to stand even though they claimed it should have been disallowed because a drop ball was not done correctly. Forest were fined £75,000 and coach Steven Reid was also hit with a £5,000 fine after being accused of swearing at the officials.
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