Nottingham Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has been left frustrated and disappointed with the EFL after promotion was "snatched away" with a 1-0 defeat at Bournemouth on Tuesday.
The Reds were narrowly beaten by Scott Parker's side in midweek, as the Cherries won automatic promotion to the Premier League at Forest's expense. Forest have a play-offs spot already confirmed, but the Reds' chief is disappointed by the manner in which his club missed out on the chance to win automatic promotion.
Forest were controversially denied a penalty when Sam Surridge was ruled offside by one of the assistant referees moments after being fouled in the penalty area. With no VAR available, the match officials had to stick to their original decision despite TV replays showing Surridge to be onside.
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Speaking on BBC Radio Nottingham on Wednesday (May 4), Colin Fray discussed an impromptu call from the Forest owner to vent his frustrations. Colin said: "For the first time since he took ownership in 2017, I took a phone call last night from Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis.
"He did not want to be interviewed, but told me of his frustrations. He said he is not happy with the federation, in this case the EFL.
"In addition to decisions within games, he also feels that Forest were not backed by the EFL when this game against Bournemouth was originally postponed. Again, controversially, last night's goalscorer Kieffer Moore was one of the injured players Bournemouth had at the time and would not have been able to play when the game was originally scheduled.
"Mr Marinakis said he wants to express his frustration and a desire to see a fair referee and federation so that the game can be decided on the grass."
Asked what Forest can do, Fray said: "There are limited options. Referees are marked by clubs in every match and they are assessed. This doesn't seem to be helping, in my opinion I don't think Forest have had many good officials this season particularly.
"Mr Marinakis told me they have written letters several times but nothing happens. He says he is frustrated because he is putting millions of pounds into the club. From Mr Marinakis' point of view millions of pounds have gone into the squad and team. He has finally got the head coach and the squad in place and he feels promotion has been snatched away."
