Trevor Sinclair: Officials should be relegated after West Ham-Balbuena incident
Trevor Sinclair has called for major changes after West Ham United were forced to appeal the red card handed to Fabian Balbuena.
The FA have since rescinded that caution, and the Paraguayan international will be available for action in the Premier League.
Sinclair believes officials are not accountable for their mistakes and should be relegated down the ladder if they are found guilty.
Speaking on talkSPORT on Wednesday, Sinclair called for big changes after yet another mistake at the highest level of the game.
“To start with, the fundamentals are wrong,” he said.
“Why West Ham are having to appeal this is a joke. Our referees are not accountable for the mistakes they are making.
“The people in the VAR studio are not accountable for the mistakes they’re making, and they need to be. This is a professional role.
“I think they should be relegated for a certain amount of time.”
Joke, indeed.
There have to be consequences for the officials, as they clearly aren’t learning their lesson.
Yes, on this occasion it was VAR, but Chris Kavanagh could have had some sort of backbone and backed his initial decision at the London Stadium.
The technology simply isn’t good enough, either, with the angles and lines available on the screens nowhere near conclusive enough.
It was never a clear and obvious error, which is the only reason why VAR should be used, although it keeps butting in where it isn’t needed.
Ben Chilwell had every right to go down injured, but even he will have recognised that it was never intentional and Balbuena was simply planting his foot.
Sinclair calling for temporary relegations makes sense, and it could make a big difference.
In other West Ham United news, London club want to sign this ‘Future star’ from the Irons, contract set to expire – report