Should hair pulling in football be violent conduct?
Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez faces a three-match ban for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewin's hair. Is the punishment fair?
Everton manager David Moyes said VAR Chris Kavanagh should have been "embarrassed" for advising a red card review after Michael Keane pulled the hair of Wolves' Tolu Arokodare [Getty Images] Not for the first time this season a Premier League manager was left incensed by a red card for hair pulling. On this occasion it was Manchester United manager Michael Carrick, who described Lisandro Martinez's dismissal against Leeds United on Monday as a "shocking decision". In January Everton boss David Moyes said it was "ridiculous" that Michael Keane was sent off against Wolves.
It has been consistent in the Premier League at least. If there has been definitive evidence of a hair pull, it has led to a video assistant referee (VAR) intervention for violent conduct and a three-match ban. But this one-size-fits-all approach is controversial.
Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer summed up the general opinion of former players on BBC Breakfast. "Never a red card, not in the Premier League," former England striker Shearer said of Martinez's dismissal. "We need to be careful about where the game is heading if that is being deemed violent conduct and a red card.
It's not what we want to see. " So why is hair pulling always seen as a red card? What makes it violent conduct?
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