Referees chief Howard Webb will hold peace talks with Nottingham Forest this week after furious statement blasting decisions and Stuart Attwell… with VAR audio set to be played at the meeting

Referees’ chief Howard Webb will hold peace talks with Nottingham Forest’s owners this week at which the VAR audio of their three penalty appeals in Sunday’s controversial defeat at Everton will be played to the club. 

Forest requested access to referee Anthony Taylor’s conversations with VAR Stuart Atwell earlier this week after criticising the latter’s appointment for the game at Goodison Park on the grounds that he is a “Luton fan,” with refereeing body PGMOL happy to oblige.

PGMOL’s protocol is to make VAR audio available to any club that requests it, with Webb understood to be planning to play the recordings to Forest in an online meeting this week before their next game against Manchester City on Sunday. 

Webb will also speak to one of Forest’s owners, Evangelos Marinakis or minority shareholder Sokratis Kominakis, while depending on the team’s training schedule manager Nuno Espirito Santo may also be present.

Forest also requested that the audio of the penalty appeals be released publicly, as PGMOL did last October following Liverpool‘s defeat to Tottenham when VAR officials Darren England and Dan Cook failed to overturn an offside decision as they mistakenly believed that Luis Diaz‘s goal had been awarded. 

Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was furious his team were denied three penalties at Everton

Nottingham Forest are set to also get the audio from the PGMOL of Sunday’s VAR

PGMOL will not follow suit on this occasion, but as Mail Sport revealed yesterday one of the incidents is likely to feature in next week’s Match Officials: Mic’d Up programme, in which Webb and Michael Owen analyse recent refereeing decisions in the Premier League.

Forest, Santo, Neco Williams and the club’s refereeing consultant Mark Clattenburg have all been asked for their observations by the FA and could be charged with misconduct for questioning Atwell’s integrity. 

While PGMOL are unhappy with Forest’s conduct Webb’s willingness to meet the club indicates their desire to resolve the matter amicably and move on from the controversy.