A red card at the Amex Stadium has landed Nottingham Forest head coach Nuno Espirito Santo with a three-match touchline ban and a £55,000 fine.
The Forest boss accepted a misconduct charge from the Football Association after he was sent off against Brighton and Hove Albion on Sunday 22 September.
He protest furiously after midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White was shown a red card for a sliding tackle which injured Joao Pedro.
Albion’s Brazilian forward had come on as a substitute just over 10 minutes before he was floored by Gibbs-White – and has not played since.
Gibbs-White, who had already been booked, was dismissed for a second yellow card with less than 10 minutes left on the clock.
He has been handed a one-match suspension and fined £20,000 by an independent regulatory commission.
Brighton boss Fabian Hürzeler was also charged by the FA after he was shown a red card for encroaching on to the pitch to protest about Gibbs-White’s challenge.
The match ended in a 2-2 draw.
A statement from the FA said: “Nuno Espirito Santo, Morgan Gibbs-White and Fabian Hürzeler admitted to their respective charges.
“The independent regulatory commission imposed a two-match touchline suspension and £55,000 fine on the Nottingham Forest head coach which activated a further one-match touchline ban that had been suspended, as well as a one-match suspension and £20,000 fine on the Nottingham Forest midfielder.
“The Brighton and Hove Albion manager was fined £8,000 after accepting the standard penalty.”
As well as Joao Pedro, James Milner and Solly March are out injured as Albion prepare to play Newcastle United tomorrow (Saturday 19 October) at 3pm.
Meanwhile, Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis has been given a five-match stadium ban following “improper” behaviour around the tunnel in their 1-0 defeat to Fulham in September.
Marinakis cannot attend matches until Saturday 30 November – missing games against Crystal Palace, Leicester City, West Ham United, Newcastle and Arsenal – after an independent regulatory commission found the Forest owner guilty. He had denied the charge.
The incident came after Raul Jimenez scored a controversial penalty to snatch a 1-0 win for Fulham at the City Ground.
Andreas Pereira went down under Murillo’s challenge and after a lengthy VAR check, Josh Smith awarded the spot-kick.
Forest were further aggrieved when another VAR decision went in favour of Fulham after Calvin Bassey appeared to bring down Anthony Elanga inside the area but Smith waved penalty claims away.
A statement from the FA read: “Nottingham Forest’s Evangelos Marinakis has been sanctioned by an independent regulatory commission.
“Evangelos Marinakis was charged with misconduct following Nottingham Forest’s Premier League match against Fulham on Saturday 28 September.
“It was alleged that his behaviour around the tunnel area after the final whistle was improper.
“He denied this charge but it was found proven by the independent regulatory commission and a five-match stadium/ground suspension has been imposed
“The independent regulatory commission’s written reasons for its decisions will be published in due course.”
Nottingham Forest immediately released a statement of their own announcing that they have appealed against the decision.
It read: “Nottingham Forest Football Club notes the decision of the regulatory commission in relation to its owner Evangelos Marinakis.
“An appeal has immediately been lodged against this decision in respect of both the liability and the sanction.”
