Manchester United’s appeal against Lisandro Martinez’s three-match ban has been rejected by the FA after it ruled there was no clear error. The Argentine received a straight red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewis’ hair during the defeat to Leeds United earlier this month.
It was also pointed out that the argument that hair-pulling was “unjust punishment for the crime” was dismissed, stating that it “should not be tolerated and should be discouraged.” Everton had a similar outcome when they appealed Michael Keane’s sacking.
United interim head coach Michael Carrick was furious at the decision to send Martinez off, even though the rules on the matter were clear.
He told Sky Sports: “It wasn’t a tug, it wasn’t a pull, it wasn’t aggressive. He just touched it and got sent off. The worst part is he got sent off to reverse it as a clear mistake. It’s shocking.”
“That made him lose his balance and he touched half the back of his hair and it pulled his bob down and it looked like this. I don’t even know what that looks like.”
“It’s the second game in a row that the decision went against us, and that game was one of the worst I’ve ever seen.”
Martinez missed last weekend’s win over Chelsea alongside Harry Maguire through suspension, with the latter being charged by the FA for his comments following his sending off against Bournemouth.
United’s third most expensive signing is due to return next Monday for the visit of Brentford, but Martinez remains sidelined and will also miss this weekend’s much-anticipated game against Liverpool.
Anger at Old Trafford over Martinez’s ruling intensified last Saturday, as inconsistencies emerged over the incident in which Dango Outtara briefly hair-pulled Fulham’s Calvin Bassey, which went unpunished apart from the Brentford player admitting a foul.
