Hair pulling ought not to be tolerated - FA panel

A Football Association disciplinary panel has said hair pulling "ought not to be tolerated" in its reasons for upholding a three-game ban for Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez.

The independent regulatory commission rejected the club's appeal against the punishment and sending off, for pulling the hair of Leeds striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin during a game.

Martinez, 28, was given a straight red card for violent conduct during the 2-1 defeat by Leeds at Old Trafford, after referee Paul Tierney was instructed to review the incident on the pitchside monitor by the video assistant referee (VAR).

In a written report, the panel said it accepted other forms of violent conduct "carry a much higher risk of harm to an opponent".

But it stressed: "In the wider interests of football 'hair pulling' ought not to be tolerated and should be discouraged through consistent punishment."

United manager Michael Carrick called the decision earlier this month "one of the worst" he has seen.

Argentina international Martinez missed the away win against Chelsea last weekend and will also sit out of the home games with Brentford on 27 April and Liverpool on 3 May.

While hair pulling is not specifically mentioned in the Laws of the Game, it is categorised as 'violent conduct' because it cannot be considered as something you would legitimately do when challenging for the ball.

United were trailing 2-0 in the second half when Martinez tried to stop Calvert-Lewin by holding his hair in an off-the-ball incident, after being caught in the face himself.

Carrick argued Martinez's sending off was a clear and obvious error by Tierney, as he was "off balance and grappling", adding the action was "not a pull, not a tug, not aggressive".

But after reviewing the footage, the panel wrote they could not say with confidence the contact by Martinez was small because Calvert-Lewin "had reacted in a manner that suggested that he had felt a certain amount of force exerted upon his hair/scalp".

Calvert-Lewin confirmed after the game he did feel his hair get pulled so told the referee.

"The commission members were unanimous that the referee could not be said to have made an 'obvious error' in dismissing LM (Lisandro Martinez)," the report says.

It also pointed out cases need to be "truly exceptional" for a punishment to be deemed excessive, and did not agree that was the case here.

In January, Everton were unsuccessful in their bid to overturn Michael Keane's dismissal for tugging the hair of Wolves striker Tolu Arokodare.

Toffees boss David Moyes said he was "angry" with the appeal panel and "embarrassed" for the video assistant referee Chris Kavanagh.