Lisandro Martinez will serve the final two of his three-match suspension after Manchester United’s appeal to the FA to have his red card revoked was unsuccessful.
Lisandro Martinez is currently suspended for three games (Image: Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Manchester United’s request for a three-match suspension for Lisandro Martinez was rejected by the FA, who ruled that there was no obvious mistake. The Argentine was shown a straight red card for pulling Dominic Calvert-Lewis’ hair against Leeds United earlier this month.
It was also noted that claims of excessive punishment for the crime were rejected, as hair-pulling was “unacceptable and should be discouraged”. Everton received a similar verdict earlier this season when they appealed the sending off of Michael Keane for a similar offense.
Despite the law on the matter being clear, United interim head coach Michael Carrick was furious at Martinez’s decision to send him off.
“It wasn’t pulling, it wasn’t pulling, it wasn’t aggressive. He got sent off for touching,” he told Sky Sports. “The worst part is that he was sent to cover it up as a clear mistake. It’s shocking.
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“It 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.”
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Martinez missed last weekend’s win over Chelsea along with Harry Maguire, who was charged by the FA for his comments following his sending off against Bournemouth.
United’s third most expensive signing returns for the visit of Brentford next Monday, but Martinez remains absent and will also miss this weekend’s crucial match against Liverpool.
Conflicts on the matter were revealed last Saturday when Dango Outtara briefly pulled the hair of Fulham’s Calvin Bassey, which went unpunished despite the Brentford player admitting the foul, fueling anger at Old Trafford over Martinez’s decision.
Dango Outtara was not shown a red card for briefly pulling Calvin Bassey’s hair at the weekend (Image: Getty Images)
This has a direct impact on United, who will now be able to travel to United for the next few days rather than being suspended for his actions.
In addition to Martinez, United also have several other players who could be sidelined due to injury doubts, Lenny Yolo and Matheus Cunha.
Neither player appeared in training earlier this week due to Yoro being absent from the game against Chelsea, and reports emerged that Cunha had an issue in that game. Carrick said Yoro is on the mend, and until Yoro is able to return, there are doubts whether he will be able to return.
“It’s still under consideration, so it’s possible, but I’m not 100% sure at this stage,” he said.
