Premier League clubs have approached Nottingham Forest for more information following their legal victory over the Football Association. Forest were fined £750,000 in April 2024 for comments made about referee Stuart Attwell. The club successfully appealed against the decision and are now seeking compensation.
Rob Dorsett
Image: Nottingham Forest have been contacted by other Premier League clubs after their legal victory over the Football Association.
A number of Premier League teams have approached Nottingham Forest for more details about their legal victory over the Football Association after the club successfully argued the appeal panel's decision was biased against them, Sky Sports News has learned.
The ruling is likely to earn Forest hundreds of thousands of pounds in damages from the Football Association, with the lawyer appointed to hear the club's appeal saying in his formal submission that Forest had made a “somewhat hysterical application”.
Sky Sports News understands other clubs are keen to better understand Forest's legal arguments in case they wish to challenge the Football Association's disciplinary procedures in future.
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There has been no comment from the FA.
The issue dates back to April 2024, when Forest faced disciplinary action after X reported that the club had warned the Football Association that Stuart Attwell, the VAR appointed for the game, was a Luton Town fan before a 2-0 defeat to Everton. Luton were in a relegation battle with Forest at the time.
Forest were eventually fined £750,000 for bringing the game into disrepute after a controversial tweet questioning Atwell's integrity was viewed almost 40 million times.
However, the Football Association wanted Forest fined £1m and Graham Macpherson CBE was appointed chairman of a disciplinary panel.
It was he who described Forest's complaint as “hysterical” – comments which an independent panel has now found to be “unfounded, inappropriate and a personal attack on the club”.
When Forest appealed the fine, the Football Association chose Macpherson to chair the appeal, and Forest again opposed his involvement.
Last October, Forest were fined £125,000 by the Football Association for their role in a mass brawl between players against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were fined £40,000.
Forest appealed the decision and Macpherson was reappointed as chairman of the disciplinary panel.
Forest appealed again and now the appeal panel, chaired by Kim Franklin QC, has ruled in their favour. It said: “There is no doubt that the description as 'somewhat hysterical' can fairly be described as an unjustified, inappropriate and personal attack on the club and its legal representatives.”
Macpherson disputed Forest's view, but the panel said his use of the word “hysterical” was “inherently highly derogatory” and that any impartial person would have concluded that “there was a real possibility that Mr Macpherson was biased against the club”.
As a result, a new chairman of the appeal panel will have to be appointed and the FA will have to pay the costs of that and Forest's legal costs.
Sourse: skysports.com
