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27th March 2024
01:00pm GMT
The dialogue between Nottingham Forest coach Steven Reid and referee Paul Tierney has been published by the Football Association.
Forest were particularly angry after their late defeat against Liverpool earlier this month after they felt that Tierney had wrongly given Liverpool possession with a drop ball one minute and fifty seconds before the winning goal.
Darwin Nunez's goal was effectively the last kick of the game, sparking angry scenes at the City Ground.
Now, for the first time, the exchange between Reid and Tierney has been published, revealing that the former made several x-rated comments.
A report written by Tierney, as shared by The Telegraph, said: "Following the final whistle I was surrounded by members of Nottingham Forest’s substitutes and backroom staff on the field of play.
"One of those who approached me was Steven Reid (a coach of Nottingham Forest) who was not listed on the team sheet. He asked me about a decision and I said to him that I will speak to him inside and not outside on the field of play. He then continued to question me and I repeated that I would speak to him inside.
"He then said, ‘it’s the same every week, you c---.’ I showed him the red card and then he said ‘I worked with you f------ lot every f------ week last season. It’s the same every f------ week you c---’.
"He then continued to use the word f--- and called me a c--- on at least one more occasion [making that a minimum of 3 in total] as we were making our way off the field of play."
Despite claiming he never made those comments the independent committee found Reid to be guilty and has been given a two-match touchline ban and fined £5,000 for improper conduct and using abusive/and or insulting language towards Tierney.
Furthermore, Forest were also fined £75,000 after admitting they failed to ensure players and technical area occupants did not behave in an improper way after the final whistle.
The charity Ref Support UK criticised the punishment and claimed that it was too lenient and represents that the organisations are not taking abuse towards officials seriously enough.
"The only ‘c’ word that could be worse than that directed at a referee would be ‘cheat’,” said Martin Cassidy, the Chief Executive and founder of the officials’ support group.
“My take on it is that the FA are moving forward with trying to impose appropriate punishments but they are a bit more lenient with the professional game.
“The FA are talking about points deductions for regular offenders, but I would like them to remove the word ‘regular’ from that and to create more of a deterrent.
“There is a big problem because there is a clear replication at grassroots level from what we see at the highest level of the game. I hope that in the-not-to distant future we see more suitable punishments for this level of abuse.”
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