The Shocking Reason Man Utd's Lisandro Martinez Red Card Appeal Was Thrown Out

Manchester United's attempt to overturn the contentious red card issued to Lisandro Martínez during this month's Premier League loss to Leeds United was unsuccessful, meaning the center back must complete a three-match ban as originally handed down.

Martínez was dismissed early in the second half of the Old Trafford encounter on April 13, with Leeds already leading 2–0 before going on to secure a 2–1 win. During an aerial duel with Dominic Calvert-Lewin, the Argentine was deemed to have grabbed the striker by the hair.

Carrick took issue with the ruling, which came after a VAR review, pointing to the initial contact Calvert-Lewin had made on Martínez.

"That decision was one of the worst I've ever seen," Carrick raged after the final whistle. "[Calvert-Lewin] can throw his arms in Licha's face—and then he's sent off. Shocking. I don't even know what it looks like. It's not a pull, it's not a tug, it's not aggressive. He touches [the hair] and he gets sent off. We have got to be careful where the game is going. It is a shocking decision, absolutely shocking."

Martínez received a three-game suspension in accordance with the standard penalty for violent conduct. He missed last weekend's crucial victory against Chelsea, ahead of which Carrick again expressed his frustration over the red card but stopped short of confirming whether an appeal had been lodged.

"It's obvious how I felt after the game, and I still feel that way now. I don't want to go into it now. It is what it is. We have to accept it and move on," he said at the time.

Why Man Utd's Lisandro Martínez Appeal Failed

Following the release of the FA's written judgement, it has been confirmed that an appeal was submitted and subsequently rejected.

The written reasons revealed that a letter from Manchester United's club secretary, sent two days after the match, laid out in detail why the club considered the dismissal "wrongful" and argued that the standard punishment in this case "would be clearly excessive."

In wrongful dismissal appeals of this nature, the onus falls on the club to demonstrate that an "obvious error" was committed by the match officials. In addition to the letter, the Red Devils submitted three video clips to bolster their case. One captured the full incident between Calvert-Lewin and Martínez, another showed contact made on Leny Yoro during the same match, and a third featured a more clear-cut hair-pulling incident from February for which Fulham's Kenny Tete escaped a red card.

Ultimately, the three-member regulatory commission—comprising former Premier League referee Steve Bennett, 1994–95 Premier League title winner Stuart Ripley, and ex-Southampton defender Francis Benali—unanimously concluded that dismissing Martínez did not constitute an "obvious error."

The judgement read: "The pulling of a person's hair can be interpreted to fall outside the normal constituent elements of a challenge in football and can therefore fall into the category of violent conduct. The commission did not feel that it could be said with any confidence that the force exerted by [Lisandro Martínez] on [Dominic Calvert-Lewin's] hair/scalp was negligible."

In the commission's view, Martínez had "grasped" the hair and Calvert-Lewin's reaction "suggested that he had felt a certain amount of force exerted upon his hair/scalp." As such, "it was not outside the parameters of reasonableness for the Referee to have interpreted the VAR footage in the way that he did and he could not, therefore, be said to have made an obvious error."

Regarding the claim of excessive punishment, the commission acknowledged that hair pulling sits at the lower end of the violent conduct spectrum. Nevertheless, the view held is that it "ought not to be tolerated" in soccer under any circumstances. Consequently, hair pulling "should be discouraged through consistent punishment."

Which Man Utd Games Lisandro Martínez Will Miss

Martínez has already served the first match of his three-game suspension. The remaining two fixtures he will be absent for are the upcoming Premier League matches against Brentford (April 27) and Liverpool (May 3).

The Argentina international will be free to return when United make the trip to Sunderland on May 9.

The ban could have proven far more damaging had circumstances played out differently.

United's hold on a top-five Premier League position has been bolstered by Chelsea's recent slump and last weekend's win over the Blues. Champions League qualification, though not yet mathematically confirmed, looks increasingly secure and can be clinched with two more victories from their five remaining games.

Harry Maguire is back in contention following his own two-match ban stemming from a disputed red card—and his subsequent reaction—against Bournemouth last month. Ayden Heaven has also made his presence felt, delivering an impressive display against Chelsea.