KMI Panel Supports VAR Decision on Liverpool Penalty Appeal

The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel has thrown its support behind the on-field and VAR decisions that denied Liverpool a penalty in their win at Ipswich Town earlier this month.

Liverpool were 2-0 up and in complete control towards the end of the first half when Cody Gakpo burst into the left side of the box. As he laid the ball off, Abdul Fatawu came sliding in, made a block and then made contact with the Dutch forward on the edge of the area.

Referee Darren England waved play on. In the VAR booth, Nick Hopton stuck with the on-field call and chose not to send England to the monitor.

That sequence has now been reviewed by the league’s independent KMI Panel, which voted 4-1 that no penalty should have been awarded and unanimously – 5-0 – that there was no case for a VAR intervention.

In its explanation, the panel described it as “an unusual situation where some contact is made by Fatawu on Gakpo after the ball is laid off”. The members felt the contact did not reach the required bar for a foul and were clear that it fell short of the “clear and obvious” threshold needed to trigger a VAR review.

In an era when almost every coming-together in the box sparks debate, this one, in the eyes of the panel, did not.