Nottingham Forest have been criticised by the FA for not doing enough to ensure their players conduct themselves in an ordinary fashion.
The remarks were made as the governing body issued its verdict on the bust-up at the end of Carabao Cup clash against Wolves in January. Forest won the game on penalties following a 1-1 draw.
At the end of the tie, there was fracas after Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui and player Matheus Cunha confronted Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, who had celebrated in front of his former club’s fans at the end of the game. Following a probe into the clash, an FA independent regulatory commission said Lopetegui was "unprofessional" in attempting to approach Gibbs-White and also accused Cunha of "using aggression" and pushing the Forest man.
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The FA’s written reasons said: “We are unanimous in our view that Wolves bear a significantly higher responsibility for this mass confrontation. It was the extremely ill-judged action and timing of Julen Lopetegui approaching Morgan Gibbs-White to remonstrate with him that was the catalyst for what followed.”
However, the commission also criticised Forest for “doing very little to address this sort of behaviour” following similar confrontations in previous seasons.
The commission said: “We accept that their role within the incident [against Wolves] itself was a lesser one, but nevertheless contributed to a deeply unseemly scene. Their position is aggravated by a significantly worse misconduct history for E20 [failing to ensure player conduct themselves in an orderly fashion] offences.
“It seems to this Commission that the Club are doing very little to address this sort of behaviour. Indeed, we note in NFFC’s written submissions there is not one word of regret or apology, which is disappointing nor any indication that they are addressing the issues that clearly exist. However, we give them credit for their admission of the charge.”
The FA fined Wolves £45,000 and Forest £40,000. The sides meet in the Premier League at the City Ground on April 1 in the first set of games following the international break.
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