Arsenal have had their fair share of refereeing decisions not go their way this season. Today, the FA have fined Nottingham Forest for comments on refereeing decisions.
Forest have been handed a heft fine penalty by the Football Association after an investigation into a controversial club statement in April was concluded.
The club posted on Twitter/X after the Everton game in April, in which the team felt they were denied three clear penalties by the referee.
The post 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.”
Nottingham eventually lost the game 2-0, which put them in a precarious position in the final weeks of the season. However, Forest survived after winning two of their last three games in the Premier League.
FA hand hefty ban to Nottingham Forest
The club was charged with misconduct and hit with a £750,000 fine. The statement from the FA read:
“Nottingham Forest have been fined £750,000 and warned for misconduct in relation to comments posted on social media after their Premier League game against Everton on Sunday 21 April.
“The club denied that the comments posted on social media imply bias and/or question the integrity of the match officials and/or the video assistant referee and/or bring the game into disrepute.
“An independent Regulatory Commission found the charge to be proven following a hearing and imposed the club’s sanctions.”
Mikel Arteta and Arsenal have also complained about refereeing this season.
Why Arsenal could be next
This season, the Gunners are the only club in the Premier League to have had a man sent off in two different games for the same offense.
Declan Rice was sent off after a second yellow card against Brighton, with the referee claiming he delayed the restart.
Leandro Trossard was also sent off in a similar incident against Manchester City where he kicked the ball away after the referee whistled for a foul.
Both decisions infuriated Mikel Arteta so much that he said he would tell his team not to touch the ball again:
“It is very obvious, I don’t need to talk about it. I think the red card is very clear, very obvious what people think. It is not my job to come here and judge what happened. My job is to survive in one of the most difficult environments there is in football for 55 minutes and try to get things done to survive.
“The rest is not my job, but it has already happened twice in five games which is very worrying to see in the best league the Premier League. [The red card] makes the situation impossible. It is very, very hard to play with 11 players, with 10 it is impossible. With ten you have to defend your six-yard box time and time again.”
