Alious
The Premier League has issued an unusual private apology to all 20 member clubs, including Nottingham Forest, regarding delays in announcing fixture changes for December and January. This apology comes at a time when Forest is already dealing with disciplinary issues, including bans for Morgan Gibbs-White (one game), manager Nuno Espirito Santo (three games), and owner Evangelos Marinakis (five games) following incidents during a match against Brighton. The club has appealed Marinakis’ ban, particularly as fans have noted the apparent disparity in punishment compared to Nicolas Jackson’s unpunished altercation with Morato.
According to Daily Mail reporter Sami Mokbel, the Premier League acknowledged missing their own broadcast schedule deadline for fixture announcements, which should have occurred between September 16 and October 14. The delay, extending 24 hours beyond the deadline, was attributed to awaiting security clearance for the Manchester derby scheduled for December 15.
The revised schedule affects several of Forest’s matches:
– Manchester City home game (December 4) moves to 7:30 PM for Amazon Prime
– Manchester United match (December 7) shifts to 5:30 PM for Sky Sports
– Aston Villa game (December 14) moves to 5:30 PM for Sky Sports
– Boxing Day match against Tottenham remains at 3 PM but adds Amazon Prime coverage
– Wolves away fixture moves to January 6 at 8 PM for Sky Sports
– Liverpool home game shifts to January 14 at 8 PM for TNT Sports
– Southampton match moves to January 19 at 2 PM due to Southampton’s rescheduled Manchester United game
This scheduling issue represents a rare instance of the Premier League openly acknowledging an error, particularly noteworthy as Forest has faced challenges with other governing bodies like the FA and PGMOL without receiving similar acknowledgments.
Alious
