‘What can happen now though?’ – Shay Given criticises Nottingham Forest over ‘nuclear’ option with VAR accusations

Three Forest members of staff – head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, referee analyst Mark Clattenburg and full-back Neco Williams – have been asked by the FA to explain comments they made about the refereeing at Goodison Park, while the Premier League is also examining the club’s social media post which appeared to question the integrity of VAR Stuart Attwell.

The statements from the authorities came within hours of Forest demanding the release of VAR audio related to the rejection of three penalty appeals during their 2-0 defeat.

Today's Sport News in 90 Seconds - 23rd April

Forest first issued a club statement on X on Sunday, minutes after the final whistle, in which they said they had “warned” referee chief Howard Webb that Attwell “is a Luton fan” but no change was made to the match appointment.

The club went further on Monday evening and called on Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to change its rules on officials’ allegiances to account for “contextual rivalries in the league table”, not just local rivalries.

The Premier League said it was “extremely disappointed” by the statement issued on Sunday and added: “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.”

The tweet that made the initial observations about the match officials has been viewed over 43 million times on X, but Given suggests their approach could put them in the firing line for severe punishment.

“There are statements dropping like confetti from all sorts of parties over the past day after a very important game and a very important three points at the bottom of the league,” Given told the BBC.

"If you want to isolate the three penalties, I’d have to say they have a strong case for all three: the first guy has been clipped, the second one sees Ashley Young clearly move his hand towards the ball and the third one he’s tackled from behind.

"If you’re looking at it from a football perspective, there is a strong case all three should have been given.

“What can happen now though? They aren’t going to get points back and the game isn’t going to be replayed – they are just going to upset people. There must be better avenues to take with the FA and PGMOL.

“I don’t know why Stuart Attwell didn’t tell Anthony Taylor to go and look at the screen, particularly for the third one where Taylor clearly signals that Young got the ball. The referee on the pitch only has a split-second, but the VAR can see numerous angles and slow-mos.

"There seems to have been some misunderstanding with the officials and it shouldn’t happen at this crucial stage, or any stage, of the season.”

Given added Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis may have resorted to this brash approach after losing faith with match officials after a succession of high-profile contentious incidents.

“It feels like Forest maybe feel like they’ve gone down the proper routes before and nothing has happened, so they’ve come to his head-on car crash or whatever this weekend and felt like they can’t take anymore or accept this,” he added. “Marinakis is a volatile character and he’s gone nuclear.”