Featured Image Credit: Capital Link YouTube/Sky Sports YouTube
Topics: Nottingham Forest, Sky Sports, Gary Neville, Premier League, VAR
Tom Jenkins
Topics: Nottingham Forest, Sky Sports, Gary Neville, Premier League, VAR
Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has finally fired back at Sky Sports and Gary Neville following their reporting after the club's official complaint regarding officiating against Everton last month.
Marinakis' side took the footballing world by storm when they released a statement essentially questioning the integrity of the PGMOL.
The club statement outlined three decisions they felt were clear penalties and suggested the VAR official being a Luton Town fan was a potential reason behind the decisions.
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Their decision to go public with these allegations was slammed by the majority of the sports media industry, with Alan Shearer stating "What the f**k were Forest thinking," on The Rest is Football.
In a recent interview via The Daily Mail, Marinakis broke his silence on the situation and defended his club's decision.
"In my opinion, the PGMOL should not have selected him for this match. Luton were directly below Forest at that time. In the final relegation place in eighteenth position," He explained.
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"The match against Everton was hugely important for the club's survival in the Premier League. The PGMOL should not have risked even the suspicion or perception of any bias, even unconscious bias.
"To be clear, we don't expect to dictate or to impose a change to the PGMOL or Premier League but it is our duty to warn of a situation and be proactive. If this is crime..."
The 56-year-old insisted that all three should have been given as penalties, despite the PGMOL only admitting the final incident should have been overturned.
"There were three undisputed penalties - not one. We have the analysis from trusted experts to prove it," He reinforced.
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Gary Neville was very vocal in his criticism of Forest's actions on Sky Sports in the following days, and Marinakis hasn't held back in his criticism of the ex-United full-back and even threatened legal action.
"We made this announcement because we tried to protect and then there is a big fuss - but that was made from Sky Sports and specific guys," said Marinakis.
"I can bring you 100 examples of times they exaggerated, didn't say the truth and humiliated people.
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"Neville is subject to FA rules too, surely – he is a director of Salford FC. His comment about the club was outrageous, but the FA have done nothing.
"I need to be careful - because our lawyers have already been in contact with Sky regarding Neville and this is not over yet. The comments and words he used were inappropriate, didn't correspond with reality and harmed people," Marinakis concluded.