The ex-Manchester United captain has been banned from covering a Premier League match at the City Ground.
Former Liverpool star Jamie Carragher has indicated he might give this weekend’s Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Chelsea a miss after his Sky Sports colleague Gary Neville was barred from the City Ground.
Ex-Manchester United captain Neville divulged that he had been refused entry to cover Sunday afternoon’s game in the East Midlands as a pundit. Neville, 49, has not shied away from critiquing Forest since their return to the top- flight in 2022.
This month, Neville called the actions of Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis at the conclusion of their 2-2 draw with Leicester City “scandalous”.
Marinakis was seen taking to the pitch to challenge manager Nuno Espirito Santo over not substituting the injured Taiwo Awoniyi before Leicester netted their late leveller.
Neville’s feud with Forest led to him being prohibited from attending their season finale against Chelsea. In an Instagram post on Friday evening, Neville stated: “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 vs 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 over the last 14 years of doing this job and have never come close to this unprecedented action.
“Personally, I think that 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.”
Sky Sports pundit Neville was left with no option but to pull out from the broadcast after Forest had denied him entry as a co-commentator. He expressed his dismay at the situation, having never faced such a measure in his 14 years of commentary.
According to reports from The Daily Mail, Sky Sports has now rearranged its Super Sunday show to be aired from their West London studio instead of the City Ground.
Although Sky Sports will still dispatch a commentary team to the City Ground, it appears that Carragher won’t be joining them in the East Midlands either following his disclosure on Neville’s Instagram post about discussions with Marinakis.
Carragher humorously responded to Neville’s announcement with a string of crying and laughing emojis – leading Neville to inquire if Carragher too had been barred from the City Ground.
“He said I was fine to commentate, but I couldn’t go near the pitch,” Carragher responded. “I said; ‘I’m not coming at all if you’re not letting Gary in’, so he told me to; ‘F**k off’.”
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2025-05-24 14:30:00
