SKY SPORTS has issued a grovelling apology to Nottingham Forest after Gary Neville’s “Mafia gang” comment.
The Manchester United legend criticised Forest’s ownership after the brutal statement they released amid their chaotic 2-0 defeat to Everton last season.
Forest were raging after being denied what they felt were three clear penalties during their clash against the Toffees on April 21.
The club are understood to have sent Sky a legal letter of complaint and today Neville and the broadcasting company have released a joint statement.
It read: “In response to a Nottingham Forest statement outlining their grievances with PGMOL following their match with Everton on 21 April, Gary Neville, commenting on Super Sunday, strongly criticised Nottingham Forest’s approach.
“Sky Sports have discussed with Gary the language used and its potential to cause offence.
“Gary has agreed not to use the same or similar terms in future coverage.
“Sky Sports apologises to Nottingham Forest for any offence caused by this language.”
After the game Forest released a statement on social media in which “they warned PGMOL that VAR assistant [Stuart Attwell] is a Luton fan”, who were also in the fight to avoid relegation.
But Neville doubled down by describing Forest’s statement as “like a mafia gang statement.
“I mean, honestly, what the hell are they playing at? It’s like a petulant child, it’s embarrassing.
“And some of those things they’re saying in there, the suggestion of some sort of inferring of cheating because there’s an official in VAR in Stockley Park who’s a Luton fan is a scandal, and they will pay for that.”
Neville also insisted that former referee Mark Clattenburg should resign from his position as a consultant at Forest.
And Clattenburg officially resigned from his position in April and has since admitted his role was misunderstood.
Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis was furious by Neville’s post-match comments on Sky Sports.
The controversial defeat at Goodison Park left Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in relegation fear with the club later demanding audio of the VAR officials.
Lucky for Forest they avoided relegation to the Championship by six points despite suffering a four-point deduction for breaching Financial Fair Play regulations.
