Nottingham Forest have demanded Rob Jones be suspended from officiating their matches following the referee’s blunder in sending off Willy Boly in the 3-2 defeat against Bournemouth.
Howard Webb, the head of Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL), has contacted new Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo to confirm Jones made a serious error in showing Boly a second yellow card in Saturday’s Premier League match, according to the Telegraph.
Forest have reportedly lodged a compliant and demanded any recording of the conversation between the referee and the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in relation to the incident.
It is the second time Forest have launched a complaint against Jones to PGMOL this season, after they did so following their 3-2 defeat at Manchester United in September.
Jones was on VAR duty when supported referee Stuart Attwell in two controversial calls against Forest: the dismissal of Joe Worrall for a foul on Bruno Fernandes as the last man, and the match-winning late penalty scored by Fernandes after Danilo was judged to have fouled Marcus Rashford.
Boly was sent off in the 23rd minute for two yellow cards, with referee Rob Jones brandishing the second despite the defender clearly winning the ball in a tackle with Adam Smith.
Dominic Solanke went on to break Forest hearts as he completed a hat-trick, heading home a winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time.
Nuno Espirito Santo had called for a rule change after his first match in charge of Nottingham Forest was ruined by a controversial red card for Willy Boly in a last-gasp 3-2 defeat to Bournemouth.
Nuno, who took over from the sacked Steve Cooper earlier in the week, was left frustrated by rules which mean VAR cannot intervene to downgrade a yellow card and wants to see a change.
‘Very bad decision,’ Nuno said. ‘A decision that totally changed the game.
‘It is more the frustration of knowing the approach of the referee is a bad one and the law says you cannot reverse the decision because it is two yellow cards. It is something they have to look at because it doesn’t make sense.
‘First of all, the approach of the referee is bad. Boly has a first yellow card, which is fair, but then for the second the foot of Boly is under the foot of the Bournemouth player so the approach (from the referee) should be more cautious.
Jones was on VAR duty and supported referee Stuart Attwell in two controversial calls against Forest in 3-2 defeat at Manchester United in August
‘Wait a little bit for the help of an assistant or the help of VAR, hold your decision and they will tell you. But after that he cannot reverse the decision.
‘Our fans deserve better decisions. They come here to see football and suddenly they see something which really changes the game.
‘I saw it over and over and over again to try and understand because I respect the referee. I know it is a tough job. I have seen it many times and I cannot understand it, I cannot understand it. It was bad. It is a mistake, a huge mistake.’
Ten-man Forest went ahead through Anthony Elanga before two goals in seven minutes by Solanke put the Cherries in front.
