Nottingham Forest, manager Nuno Espirito Santo and defender Neco Williams have been charged with misconduct by the Football Association.
The FA has acted over Nuno and Williams’ comments following the 2-0 defeat at Everton last month.
The FA said in it’s statement that “It’s alleged that the club, manager and player’s comments constitute improper conduct in that they imply bias and/or question the integrity of the match officials and/or bring the game into disrepute.”
They were given until Thursday to respond to the charge.
Forest were fuming after having three penalty decisions go against them and released an angry statement on X just minutes after the final whistle (which has been seen over 45 million times).
The club claimed they told referees body the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) that the game’s video assistant referee (VAR) Stuart Attwell was allegedly a fan of relegation threatened rivals Luton Town.
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Boss Nuno, Williams and former referee and ref analyst Clattenburg were asked for their observations by the FA.
The Premier League also confirmed it will investigate the comments.
Clattenburg confirms his exit
The news comes after Clattenburg stepped down from his role, his reason for this decision was that his role had “become more of a hindrance than help” to the club.
Clattenburg began working with the relegation-battling Premier League side as a referee analyst in February.
He has been involved in high-profile incidents following refereeing decisions in Forest matches, including the defeat by Liverpool in March and the loss at Goodison Park.
Clattenburg said his role has caused “unintended friction between Forest and other participants“.
He further added “It has also led to the unmerited targeting of me, personally, by certain participants and pundits.
“Such reactions and outcome was not expected and is regrettable, as it is my sincere belief that there is a place for and value in such a role in the modern game.”
Clattenburg, 49, also said: “I performed my services under the consultancy agreement in good faith, to the best of my abilities and in the hope of using my extensive experience as a match official to help Nottingham Forest understand how decisions in relation to key match incidents are made amid the workings of VAR.
“However, it is now clear that the existence and performance of these consultancy services has caused unintended friction between Nottingham Forest and other participants, to the extent that it has become more of a hindrance than help to Nottingham Forest.”
His resignation comes just two weeks after former Manchester United defender and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville to say Clattenburg should resign.
Forest had previously released a strongly worded statement on the club’s X account following the defeat by Everton saying they were “considering their options” after three penalties were not awarded in their favour.
The club said they had “warned” the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL) that “the VAR is a Luton fan but they didn’t change him.“
