NafisaRoy Keane has slammed former club Nottingham Forest’s choice to ban Gary Neville from covering their clash against Chelsea. Neville, 50, was refused accreditation by Forest in a contentious move which ex-team-mate Keane has branded ‘small-minded’.
The Manchester United icon was reacting after Sky Sports opted to present coverage of Forest’s 2-0 defeat to Chelsea from their London studio. Sky bosses took the step after Neville was barred from the City Ground following a social media post in which he criticised Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis’ conduct after their previous home fixture against Leicester.
Marinakis had marched onto the pitch at full-time to confront manager Nuno Espirito Santo. The Greek was displeased with the coaching and medical staff’s handling of Taiwo Awoniyi, who picked up a late injury.
On X, Neville posted: “Scandalous from that Forest owner. Nuno should go and negotiate his exit tonight with him! The Forest fans, players and manager do not deserve that.”
Forest retaliated by banning Neville, and also issued a statement denouncing ‘fake news online’ while cautioning against ‘baseless and ill-informed outrage for the purposes of personal social media traction’. But Keane doesn’t see eye to eye with his old club’s judgement.
Reflecting on Forest’s late-season slide, Keane called several of their actions ‘small-minded’, including the decision to exclude Neville. The former midfielder hinted that Marinakis’ effort to ‘control’ the situation hadn’t benefitted the club.
On Friday, Neville shared a statement via Instagram, posting: “I was contacted by Sky Sports earlier on in the week and told that I would be commentating at the City Ground on Sunday for the Nottingham Forest v Chelsea match.
“I was informed yesterday by Sky Sports that Nottingham Forest would not give me an accreditation or access to the stadium as a co-commentator. I’ve had no choice but to withdraw from the coverage.
“I’ve dished out my fair share of criticism and praise in the last 14 years of doing this job and have never come close to this unprecedented action. Personally, I think it’s disappointing that a great club like Nottingham Forest have been reduced to making such a decision.
“Whilst they have every right to choose who they let into their own stadium, it’s symptomatic of things that have happened over the last 12 months with the club. I wish the coaching staff, players and fans of the club all the best in their quest to achieve Champions League football.”
Nafisa
