Lisandro Martinez will serve his 3-match ban after Manchester United’s appeal over his hair-pulling red card against Leeds United was thrown out by an FA commission.
The Argentine defender received a straight red after a tussle with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in United’s 2-1 defeat at Old Trafford, with referee Paul Tierney deemed by VAR to have acted properly in punishing the challenge for “violent conduct.”
United contested the decision, claiming unjust dismissal, that the punishment was overly harsh, and also pointed to video evidence of a number of similar challenges that had gone unpunished, but were unsuccessful, as their appeal was dismissed by the FA, and the sanction is to remain in place.
In their written reasoning, the independent commission stated there was no convincing evidence to suggest the level of force Martinez applied to Calvert-Lewin’s hair was negligible, and the referee’s decision that a clear and obvious error had not been made did not amount to a clear and obvious error; it was stated that such incidents were not so rare as to be considered exceptional.
United manager Michael Carrick had earlier labelled the incident as ‘shocking,’ but the decision now means Martinez is to miss United’s clashes with Brentford and Liverpool in the league as part of his 3 match ban, with the Argentine already serving this sanction since Tuesday’s 1-0 victory over Chelsea.
