Gibbs-White demands on-pitch ownership after VAR spares Diop a red card against Forest

Morgan Gibbs-White has called on Premier League referees to take greater ownership of decisions on the pitch after Ipswich Town defender Issa Diop avoided a red card through VAR intervention during Nottingham Forest’s match against Ipswich on Friday night. Referee Thomas Bramall did not act immediately on the incident, instead allowing video assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis and assistant James Mainwaring to review the challenge on James McAtee.

The VAR team determined that Diop had not denied an obvious goal-scoring opportunity because McAtee had taken a heavy touch away from goal before being fouled. Diop was consequently shown a yellow card rather than a red, a decision Gibbs-White said he agreed with — but the manner in which it was reached drew his frustration.

“My only question is: why did that have to go to VAR when both the referee and linesman are standing there watching?” Gibbs-White said. “It should be an on-field decision right then and there. I do agree with the decision because we don’t know if he was going to get there.”

The England international pressed further on the issue of referee accountability. “I think there needs to be a little bit of ownership on the pitch; it’s as simple as that,” he added. “The referee and the linesman can both see exactly what’s happened, and I think we wait for VAR to intervene all the time instead of making actual decisions there and then on the pitch and keeping the game natural.”

Diop, for his part, said he was never concerned about a dismissal. “I don’t think it’s a red; I went to tackle because I saw Leif Davies covering. He put the ball wide, and Leif was there to cover. I was quite confident about that,” the defender said.

Forest head coach Oliver Glasner echoed his player’s frustration with the broader officiating picture, though he stopped short of placing blame squarely on the referee. “It felt like it was a red card, but we couldn’t have played a more dominant game than we did in the second half,” Glasner said. “Not to blame the referee; we will keep analysing and practising. Maybe I am wrong.”

Gibbs-White’s comments add to a growing chorus of voices questioning how VAR has changed the culture of on-field decision-making in the Premier League, with referees increasingly deferring to the monitor rather than acting on what they see in real time.