Nottingham Forest fined £750,000 by FA for social media posts about match officials
Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 by the Football Association for social media posts they made about match officials.
The club took to X to complain about three penalty decisions that weren't awarded in a 2-0 defeat to Everton in April.
The result had left Forest one point above the relegation zone.
At the time Nottingham Forest said in the post "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."
In a statement today the club said:
"Nottingham Forest Football Club is extremely disappointed with the decision of the Regulatory Commission to impose a £750,000 fine in relation to comments posted on social media following our Premier League fixture against Everton on Sunday 21 April.
We are particularly concerned that The FA, in its submissions, sought a sanction “in excess of £1,000,000”.
"We believe that this request, along with the subsequent fine, is wholly disproportionate and the Club will be appealing the decision".
The FA’s submission was that the fine should be over, or at least equal to a million pounds, given that it in its view it attacked the integrity of an official and the game of football as a whole "on an unparalleled scale".
The Premier League issued their own statement on social media saying:
"The Premier League was extremely disappointed to read the comments made by Nottingham Forest on social media yesterday, following its match against Everton.
"We note The FA has confirmed it will be investigating the club’s statement.
"It is never appropriate to improperly question the integrity of match officials, and the nature of these comments means the Premier League will also be investigating the matter in relation to the League’s Rules."
Today, the FA fined the club and also warned them for misconduct.
The club denied that the comments posted on social media constituted improper conduct by implying bias and/or questioning the integrity of the match officials, and/or the video assistant referee and/or bringing the game into disrepute.
But an independent Regulatory Commission found the charge to be proven following a hearing and imposed the club’s sanctions.