MISCONDUCT REPORT;Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis hit with new FA misconduct charge

FA charge club’s owner for ‘improper’ behaviour in the tunnel after Forest’s defeat by Fulham

Nottingham Forest’s owner Evangelos Marinakis has been charged with misconduct by the Football Association after the club’s controversial defeat by Fulham last weekend.

Marinakis is being accused of “improper” behaviour around the tunnel area following last Saturday’s match, which ended Forest’s unbeaten run in the Premier League.

Forest were furious with referee Josh Smith after the official awarded Fulham a penalty on the advice of VAR John Brooks, while denying the home team two spot-kick claims of their own.

A senior club source warned that poor officiating standards are “damaging the Premier League”, following their latest brush with the authorities.

The source continued: “There appears to be no consistency of decision-making from VAR.

“There still isn’t sufficient transparency in the VAR process. It’s the fans who suffer too.

“VAR was intended to improve the game for clubs and supporters alike, but it’s failing them at the moment.”

While Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo said after the game against Fulham: “We all want peace and for things to continue well, to not have to speak about the referees. But it was bad, wasn’t it?

“Let’s try to avoid [talking about officials] and give the referees peace. I think they are trying to improve, but today was not the best day.”

Marinakis is now facing a potential ban from the FA and has until Monday to respond.

An FA statement read: “Nottingham Forest’s Evangelos Marinakis has been charged with misconduct following their Premier League match against Fulham on Saturday, 28 September. It’s alleged that the behaviour of Evangelos Marinakis around the tunnel area after the final whistle was improper. He has until Monday, 7 October, to respond.”