Yahoo News Evangelos Marinakis makes 'not fair' Nottingham Forest accusation in angry rant
Owner Evangelos Marinakis has expressed his frustration over how refereeing decisions have “cost” Nottingham Forest points this season.
The Reds have been on the end of a number of controversial calls in their battle to avoid relegation. On more than one occasion they have sent a letter of complaint to the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
Their exasperation with officials came to a head after last month’s 2-0 defeat at Everton. Forest were left furious at having three penalty appeals against Ashley Young waved away and questioned the integrity of VAR Stuart Attwell in an angry tweet after the full-time whistle.
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"It's not fair what has happened so far," Marinakis told BBC Sport. "Referee decisions have cost us points and this is something that has been repeated and repeated and what we expect for the Premier League and referees is to correct these mistakes. It’s a pity as we have a great appetite for the club and I never give up."
The BBC’s Match of the Day X account posted a quote from Marinakis responding to a question about whether he felt recent refereeing decisions were a “vendetta” against the Reds or just mistakes. It read: “It’s a combination. I hope that it is mistakes. But it’s a repeated mistake and that’s what concerns me. But as I said if it’s a vendetta it should have been because you have to be fair, even if you don’t like someone you have to be fair.”
The club, head coach Nuno Espirito Santo and defender Neco Williams have been charged by the Football Association with misconduct for comments made after the loss at Goodison Park. They had until yesterday (May 9) to respond.
Forest’s tweet after the Everton loss accused Attwell of being a fan of relegation rivals Luton Town. It read: “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.”
Marinakis, who also owns Olympiacos and was speaking after the Greek side’s Europa Conference League victory over Aston Villa, added: "It was very frustrating to see three repeated mistakes that took place from the same (Everton) player. Also we had informed the Premier League chairman that... all referees have a preference which team they support. Unfortunately nothing happened and they didn’t make any change and then we saw what we saw."
The Reds host Chelsea on Saturday with their bid for survival in their own hands. They are three points above the drop zone with two games to go.
