Nuno Espirito Santo criticized refereeing standards after his Nottingham Forest team lost to Fulham, despite claiming that he wanted to give officials “peace”.
Fulham triumphed 1-0 thanks to a Raul Jimenez penalty, awarded after a lengthy review by the video assistance referee (VAR) forced referee Josh Smith to look at the pitchside monitor.
After reviewing the footage, Smith concluded that Forest defender Murillo dragged his studs on Fulham’s Andreas Pereira’s calf.
Before the first game of the season, Nuno committed to stop complaining about officials and to trust them.
The Football Association issued a charge against the 50-year-old earlier this week after he was sent off in Forest’s 2-2 draw against Brighton last Sunday.
However, Nuno spoke out against the officials after the decision to award Fulham the spot-kick, which ended Forest’s perfect start to the season in a tight match at the City Ground.
“We all want peace and stability, and we don’t want to come here to complain about the referees. But it was horrible, right?” Nuno said at a news conference.
“I strive to give referees tranquility. They’re striving to improve, but this wasn’t their greatest day. Today he didn’t do well, so I hope he improves.”
Nuno was poised to be barred from the touchline for the encounter against Fulham following his red card against Brighton.
Forest were allowed more time to submit their observations after the FA charged Nuno and Morgan Gibbs-White.
They originally had until Friday, but asked an extension, so they now have till Wednesday, October 2.
Nuno already has a suspended one-match punishment for criticizing match officials following his team’s defeat at Everton last season.
The Portuguese was upset because his team was not given penalties against Fulham.
“They looked, but their opinion differs from ours. Let’s just hope we don’t talk about the referees in the next one,” Nuno concluded.
“We don’t want to talk about the refs. Nobody wants to discuss it. When we go to the game, we don’t consider the officials.
“We just want to compete and play the game and hope the referee gets things right.”
