Mark Clattenburg did NOT ask for Stuart Attwell to be taken off VAR duties.
Former Premier League referee Clattenburg, now employed by Nottingham Forest as a match and performance analyst, did ring PGMOL chief Howard Webb last Friday morning. 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.
However, there were no questions and Mirror Football has been told at no point during the phone call did Clattenburg raise an issue with Attwell’s involvement, nor did he ask for him to be removed. That is why Clattenburg’s subsequent remarks have come as such a surprise to the Professional Game Match Officials Limited.
Forest issued a club statement after their 2-0 defeat at Everton, slamming three decisions which went against their appeals for a penalty. 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.”
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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.
"Mere reliance on match officials to recuse themselves if contextual rivalries exist invites conjecture, as some have recused themselves where others have not."
Clattenburg has been widely criticised for his role at Forest with Sky pundit Gary Neville insisting the former referee should resign immediately. 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 behaviour 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.
But the relegation-threatened club have still been involved in a string of high profile incidents, not least after Forest’s last gasp defeat to Liverpool last month. 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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