A former Premier League referee has been banned from all football-related activity for five months after telling a black assistant referee that he couldn’t see him in the dark. Rodger Gifford was working as a referee observer for Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) when he made the remarks after the second-round FA Cup tie between Newport County and Barnet on 2 December 2023.
According to several witnesses, Gifford made jokes about his colleague’s skin colour during a post-match debrief. One account, from the match referee, described Gifford talking about the darkness in parts of the stadium and saying: “It was lucky that you were not over there as assistant referee as we wouldn’t have been able to see you. If you smiled though, we would be able to see your teeth.”
