Morgan Gibbs-White has questioned why referee Thomas Bramall did not make an on-field decision about whether to send off Issa Diop during Nottingham Forest's match against Ipswich Town. The incident was reviewed by video assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis and assistant James Mainwaring, who determined that Diop did not deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity because James McAtee took a heavy touch away from goal before being fouled. Diop was issued a yellow card rather than a red.
Gibbs-White calls for more on-field ownership
Despite agreeing with the decision, Gibbs-White took issue with how it was reached. Speaking in a Sky Sports interview, he said: "It is difficult to say because you don't know if he's going to get there. My only question is: why did that have to go to VAR when both the referee and linesman are standing there watching?"
He added: "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." Gibbs-White continued: "I think there needs to be a little bit of ownership on the pitch; it's as simple as that. 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 confident in decision
Diop also spoke to Sky Sports about the incident and expressed confidence about not being sent off. He said: "I don't think it's a red; I went to tackle because I saw Leif Davies covering. He [James McAtee] put the ball wide, and Leif was there to cover. I don't think it's a red. I was quite confident about that."
Forest boss accepts the call
Forest head coach Oliver Glasner said afterwards: "It doesn't make sense [to speak to the referee] because it is what he decided. And we have to accept it. It looks like the VAR was not from the East Midlands today. 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 added: "Not to blame the referee; we will keep analysing and practising. Maybe I am wrong, or I don't know if the referee was a former football player; he won't change it anymore, so we accept it."
