Nottingham Forest issued an official statement calling attention to "three extremely poor decision" in Sunday's 2-0 loss to Everton.

The club referenced three penalty shouts that were waved away during the match and implied VAR official Stuart Attwell was motivated to rule against Forest because he's "a Luton fan."

Keith Hackett, who once led Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), explained in 2016 the Premier League put measures in place to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest.

"At the beginning of every season the referees' background information is audited, he said. "They complete a form that includes who they support, the history of if they've played the game and with the addresses where they are residing."

Attwell is purportedly a Luton Town supporter, so he didn't have a direct conflict in Sunday's fixture between Everton and Nottingham Forest. Luton did at least have some interest in the result of the match with the three clubs in question all in the middle of a relegation fight.

With Nottingham Forest losing, 18th-place Luton Town is still just one point from safety.

It's one thing to broadly criticize the officiating in Everton's win. Most notably, Ashley Young's challenge on Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 55th minute looked to be worthy of a penalty, and Forest were denied an opportunity to level the score.

Opening questioning Attwell's credibility was a step too far from some, though.

This reflects a wider concern expressed by Nottingham Forest throughout the season.

The Athletic's Paul Taylor wrote in January how "there is far more than a sense of injustice motivating the club's hierarchy as they find themselves again asking questions of the Professional Game Match Officials Board (PGMOL)." That was after Brentford's Ivan Toney scored a controversial goal that saw him move the ball from its spot on a free kick.

Forest's indignation rose to the fore again in March when the referee mistakenly gave possession to Liverpool following a stoppage in play late in the second half. Darwin Núñez subsequently scored a winner for the Reds minutes later.

It's unclear what "options" Nottingham Forest has at its disposal to address Sunday's situation. PGMOL could acknowledge an error was made regarding any of the penalty decisions if such a conclusion is warranted, but the result itself won't be overturned based on past precedent.