'Not a cheat' - Ex-Premier League referee verdict amid Nottingham Forest & Everton controversy

Former Premier League referee Peter Walton has called out the ‘cheat’ claims that have been levelled at Stuart Atwell during Everton’s win over Nottingham Forest.

A goal in each half from Idrissa Gueye and Dwight McNeil was enough to secure a vital Everton victory to help distance them from Luton in 18th place. However, while Sean Dyche’s side finally got over their dismal run, three separate Ashley Young penalty incidents has divided the footballing world. While the defender denied all three incidents in a jovial post-match interview, Forest were incensed and it led to a post on X which slated the PGMOL - in what has been a highly condemned post.

‘Three extremely poor decisions - three penalties not given - which we simply cannot accept.’ The official Forest X account tweeted. ‘We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options.’ Accusations have been rife but Forest are likely to be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.

Former referee Walton opened up about the situation and condemned the message from Forest and reiterated that there was no chance of any cheating from the refereeing team: "It is unprecedented and it shouldn't be allowed at all.” He told BBC 5 Live Breakfast. "If it came from a fan then maybe you could understand it but coming from an official club website is poor. The issue here is that if the referee is useless, he's useless - but he's not a cheat. It is an integrity issue.

"That is why our league and our referees are valued around the world because we just do not have that issue. There may well be issues around the world where leagues can influence the assignment of match officials but in Britain, that doesn't happen. We should nip this in the bud straightaway."

Everton face Liverpool in the Merseyside Derby at Goodison Park on Wednesday while Nottingham Forest host Manchester City on Sunday and Luton travel to Wolves on Saturday.