KMI Panel Supports Decision to Deny Liverpool Penalty at Ipswich

The Premier League’s Key Match Incidents Panel has thrown its weight behind the on‑field decision not to award Liverpool a penalty in their win at Ipswich Town earlier this month.

Liverpool were 2-0 up and in control late in the first half when the flashpoint arrived. Cody Gakpo laid the ball off on the edge of the area, Abdul Fatawu slid in to block, and the pair collided as the Liverpool forward moved past him. Referee Darren England waved play on. No whistle, no delay, no drama on the pitch.

All eyes then turned to Stockley Park. VAR Nick Hopton took a look and chose not to send England to the monitor. The game moved on, but the debate didn’t.

Now the KMI Panel has ruled that the officials were right to let it go. By a 4-1 majority, the panel agreed it was not a penalty, and went even stronger on the VAR element, voting 5-0 that there should be no video review.

Their assessment framed it as a rare kind of incident: “An unusual situation where some contact is made by Fatawu on Gakpo after the ball is laid off.” In other words, there was contact, but not the kind that should automatically trigger a spot-kick.

Crucially, the panel felt the bar for intervention had not been cleared. “The majority feeling was that the contact was below the high threshold for a foul and they unanimously felt that this was not a clear and obvious error for VAR intervention.”

In a season where every coming together in the box seems to spark an argument, this one, in the eyes of the Premier League’s own reviewers, falls firmly on the side of play on.