What Marco Silva has already said about VAR after Fulham vs Crystal Palace decision

Fulham host Crystal Palace at Craven Cottage this weekend in a Premier League meeting sure to attract attention for its refereeing appointment just as much as the football on display from the two London rivals.

The VAR official at the centre of fallout from Nottingham Forest's meeting with Everton last weekend, Stuart Attwell, will referee the meeting between the Cottagers and the Eagles. Forest questioned Attwell's integrity after the relegation-threatened side weren't awarded a series of penalty claims.

Nottingham Forest slammed refereeing decisions on Sunday and took issue with Attwell 'being a Luton fan' as the club felt three penalty decisions were wrongly missed. Forest have called for PGMOL to release the audio from the VAR discussions that led to those decisions.

The club's post on X, formerly Twitter, read: '"Three extremely poor decisions - three penalties not given - which we simply cannot accept. We warned the PGMOL that the VAR is a Luton fan before the game but they didn’t change him. Our patience has been tested multiple times. NFFC will now consider its options."

With the man at the centre of the latest VAR debate to take charge at Fulham this weekend, LondonWorld looks at what Marco Silva has already said about VAR this season.

The Fulham boss has taken issue with VAR calls several times this season, with one of the first coming in the September meeting with Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in September. The Champions won that match 5-1 but took the lead with their second goal through a Nathan Ake header on the stroke of half time, which was shrouded with controversy.

Fulham argued that City defender Manuel Akanji had interfered with the ball and was in an offside position but a VAR review refused to overturn the goal. Silva said: "The second half was not at the level that it should be. I tried to tell the players not to lose focus from things that we cannot control but, of course, that moment made a huge impact on them.

"Even all the explanations that we listened to during that period didn't make sense at all. What I can say? Everyone that plays football, everyone that has played football, everyone that has some knowledge about football - I'm 100 per cent sure - has to disallow that goal.

"Everyone has to be furious if a goal like that comes against you. For the linesman I believe that it can be difficult but, for the VAR, it is impossible not to disallow that goal. It is a clear offside."

Watch - Who should win the end of season awards? | The Premier League Panel

Indeed, former Premier League referee Mike Dean agreed with Silva admitting it was '1,000 per cent offside' as he criticised the VAR inaction. Fulham were left frustrated by the video referee again in December when playing Newcastle United with Raul Jimenez red-carded in that fixture.

Speaking after the match, a furious Silva said: "Until the 21st minute, all the moments, the referee didn't give us one foul. For Newcastle, it was a free kick every time. This is the best example of a referee who doesn't have the experience to handle the pressure. Any doubt, any foul, he didn't give one. Even the elbow in the face of Raul.

"He jumped into the player but you don't see something serious, something wrong with the other player. A yellow is right.

"VAR is trying to find all these moments to give. To justify their job? I don't know. It's clear he [Jimenez] lost the momentum. He should have done it in a different way.

"To go for a red card feels really strange. It was a strange afternoon for the referee. I went to speak with him but he almost ran to the dressing room. It's what we're facing right now."

Come January, Silva was charged by the FA for those comments with the footballing body deciding that the comments were 'improper conduct' and 'that they imply bias and/or question the integrity of and/or are insulting towards the match official and/or bring the game into disrepute'.

Salt was rubbed into Silva's wounds weeks later when Chelsea defender Malo Gusto wasn't sent off for a challenge on Willian in the first half of the meeting at Stamford Bridge. The Cottagers eventually lost that fixture 1-0 against their West London rivals.

Silva said: “The mistake from the VAR in my opinion, in our opinion … you understand the conversation I had with the fourth official. It’s a clear red card in that situation.

“It’s difficult for Anthony Taylor to see if it’s a red card or not – he decided yellow card and we have to be fair for him because in the moment it’s really quick for him to see that it was such a dangerous tackle from Malo Gusto.

“But after that has to come the decision from the VAR to overturn the decision. So far in the Premier League, in 10 moments nine are red cards and this afternoon wasn’t – it was a mistake from the VAR. It would have had a huge impact on the game. The game is going to be completely different.”