Lisandro Martinez, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and why hair-pulling is a red-card offence
It was, according to Manchester United head coach Michael Carrick, “one of the worst” refereeing decisions he had witnessed . An aerial challenge with Leeds United forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin had led to Lisandro Martinez pulling the hair of his opponent in the centre circle, an action not spotted by referee Paul Tierney during the visitors’ 2-1 win at Old Trafford on Monday night. Yet video assistant referee (VAR) John Brooks, who is scheduled to take on the same role in Sunday’s title decider between Manchester City and Arsenal, had seen it differently.
A pitchside review was recommended and soon enough, Martinez was shown a straight red card by Tierney. The Premier League Match Centre clarified it had been considered an act of “violent conduct” but Carrick — and others — had their doubts. What is the history of punishing hair-pulling in the Premier League?
Cases are rare but not unique and owe much to a line drawn in the sand after Chelsea hosted Tottenham Hotspur in August 2022. A heated game ended 2-2 but it was Spurs defender Cristian Romero’s hair-pull on opponent Marc Cucurella that created a storm after going unpunished by both the referee, Anthony Taylor, and the VAR, Mike Dean. “Since when can we pull hair on a football field?
” then-Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel told reporters post-match. “It’s ridiculous. ” Dean eventually accepted his error.
“I should have asked Taylor to visit his pitchside monitor to take a look for himself,” wrote Dean in his Daily Mail column, saying he had not personally deemed it violent conduct on review. The subsequent shift has been clear in the age of VAR. Southampton’s Jack Stephens was sent off for pulling Cucurella’s hair when lining up for a set-piece during a 5-1 loss to Chelsea in December 2024, again with the official, this time Tony Harrington, not seeing the incident until being sent to the pitchside monitor.
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