Sky Sports being sued by Nottingham Forest over Gary Neville's 'mafia gang' comments after club slammed Premier League officials

After Nottingham Forest lost 2-0 to Everton last month, the club made comments on social media regarding the appointment of Stuart Atwell as the Video Assistant Referee for that game despite his alleged allegiance to Luton Town. During the clash, Nottingham had three very strong penalty calls denied by VAR and hence prompted the relegation-battlers to make the statements. Sky Sports pundit and Manchester United legend, Gary Neville tore into the club's 'mafia-gang statement'.

During Sky's post-match broadcast, Neville said: "It's like a mafia gang statement, honestly. I mean what are they playing at? Look, I think anybody and everybody would have empathy and some sympathy for Forest this season with some of the decisions that they've had. The statement is like a petulant child. It's embarrassing. But they're grabbing defeat from victory. They could say, 'Why should we sit here and be badly done to and not say anything'. You can potentially come out at the end of the game - and the manager is a great spokesman at the end of the game, so is your captain - and say that we're not accepting the quality of decisions that are going against us, and that would have a real impact.

"Today has been a horrendous day for Nottingham Forest. Possibly horrendous because of the decisions that they've had, but horrendous for how they've reacted to the situation. To mention the VAR official as being a Luton fan and inferring in some way that's had an impact on the decision-making process and suggesting to me as a fan, thinking 'Has he cheated us', you're into really dangerous territory."

On Clattenburg: "Mark Clattenberg must resign tonight. If he saw those words go out in which they question the integrity of a referee and claim someone is a cheat for supporting another club, then he's supporting what is being said. He would lose all credibility with referees in the game. He should stand down tonight and distance himself from that statement."

As per The Daily Mail, Nottingham have sent a legal letter to Sky Sports because of Neville's comments on Clattenburg, who did leave his role at the club earlier this week as was suggested by the Sky pundit. Sky Sports have reportedly removed an article from their website, in which Neville had said Clattenburg's resignation was 'not surprising'. This has reportedly been done after Nottingham's legal letter to the broadcaster.

It remains uncertain whether the legal letter will head to any other legal actions against Sky Sports. Nottingham will be in action next up against Chelsea on May 11 as they look to put a further gap between themselves and Luton Town.