Keith Hackett calls for law change after West Ham vs Sunderland controversy
Keith Hackett has called on football’s lawmakers to make a change after West Ham’s 3-1 win against Sunderland.
Nuno Espirito Santo‘s side brushed the Mackems away with a brilliant first-half performance to close the gap to Nottingham Forest for now.
The London Stadium side were awarded a penalty when Ollie Scarles was taken down by Trai Hume in the 26th minute.
However, that was not the only controversy in the 24 January clash in East London.
What law does Hackett want changing?
On the verge of half-time, Reinildo, who was already on a yellow card, brought down Jarrod Bowen and gestured towards the referee.
However, he was not handed his marching orders, and VAR does not have the authority to check it and award a second booking.
Hackett wants to change that, speaking exclusively to West Ham Zone, he said: “One change that I was hoping the lawmakers, the IFAB would make is to allow the intervention on clear and obvious errors by the referee on second yellow cards to be allowed.
“Here, the player on a yellow makes a foul challenge that should see the issuing of a yellow card, followed by the red card, having received two yellows.
“VAR is not allowed to intervene, so the player is lucky to escape that walk to the tunnel.”
Why West Ham won’t care that Reinildo stayed on the pitch
Ultimately, the Irons walked away with all three points, which is the most vital thing at the moment, given their struggles.
Nuno and his side will not care that the Black Cats star remained on the pitch, especially as he was taken off after the break when Regis Le Bris made changes.
The E20 outfit’s sole focus is survival, so they cannot afford to concern themselves with one decision that did not go their way, on an afternoon where they finally showed that they have what it takes to stay up.
| Position | Played | GD | Points |
| 17. Nottingham Forest | 22 | -13 | 22 |
| 18. West Ham | 23 | -18 | 20 |
| 19. Burnley | 23 | -19 | 15 |
| 20. Wolves | 23 | -28 | 8 |
They must take the momentum that the victory should bring and use it to propel themselves outside of the relegation zone by the end of the campaign.
Hackett may well want a law change, but right now, the Hammers will be too busy on the task at hand, to care.
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