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The Premier League appears to have a hair-pulling issue.
There have now been three red cards brandished during the 2025-26 Premier League season to players who have been deemed to have pulled the hair of their opponents.
This comes as Dan Ballard was dismissed in the first half of Sunderland’s 1-1 draw away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday after referee Paul Tierney reviewed an incident involving Wolves striker Tolu Arokodare.
The Black Cats stalwart defender became the latest player to be shown a straight red after the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) deemed the action as ‘violent conduct.’ and his season now comes to an end due to his automatic three-game suspension.
“It’s really hard to digest, because I don’t think it was intentional or violent conduct,” Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris said.
“… Many things can happen, but it wasn’t intentional, but if the rule is the rule, probably when you face a striker with long hair, you have [a] problem, because you can’t defend – anything can happen. …
“I think when it’s not intentional, it was an accident. It’s hard to execute the rule like it was intentional, so sometimes handball is the same – there’s always a grey area.Â
“With this rule, we are in that stage when you have to manage the rule to make it clean for different situations.”Â
Earlier in the season, Michael Keane saw red for a hair-pull on Arokodare which was appealed by Everton – and promptly rejected.
Then in April, Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez was given his marching orders – following a VAR intervention – after tugging on Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s bun in Leeds United’s shock 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.
Tierney was the referee on this occasion too.
Cascarino proposes enforcement of new rule
Ballard’s sending off once again brought up a debate over where the English top flight – and football in general – can go from here.
During talkSPORT’s Weekend Sports Breakfast on Sunday, co-hosts Shebahn Aherne and Tony Cascarino engaged in discussion over whether the Premier League should look to introduce a new rule specifically pertaining to hair-pulling in an effort to bridge the ‘grey area’ Le Bris had described.
“I’m sort of confused why players do it? Then if you pull shirts and you pull the shirt regularly does it just become a thing to grab the hair?” Cascarino questioned.
“They seem to get caught every time so I think it’s a really bad idea. You have to say to your players don’t grab someone’s hair because as soon as you do you’re getting a red card.
“Whereas if you pull a shirt you can get booked, but if you pull the hair you get a red card. So you’ve got to tell your players don’t even think about it.”
“The big one from women’s football was Katie McCabe on Alicia Thompson in the Women’s Champions League against Chelsea very recently and how the ref didn’t see it was beyond me,” Aherne responded, with hair-pulling not limited to the men’s game.
“One thing I will say as a woman who has hair extensions and has long hair. Accidents happen at times. I’ve got young kids and where they’re going to grab you playing around they can pull your hair.
“This might actually offend people, which is wild, but get your hair tied up. Get it out the way. It’s not that hard.
“I know Dominic Calvert-Lewin had his bun on that day when Lisandro Martinez caught him. Everyone’s saying that’s violent conduct. Get it tied all the way up. There comes this point now. Is it going to be used by a striker?”
Cascarino added: “I never thought I’d have a conversation about hair being pulled in football but it has been a thing. It’s a theme.
“The Cucurella one years gone by was one of the most blatant ones. I don’t know what goes in a player’s mindset when they think ‘I’ll pull his hair.’”
The former Gillingham and Millwall striker later suggested that a new rule should be implemented to prevent more hair pulling red cards.
“We’ve given so many different descriptions there of how a hair pull can be that bad and how serious It can be,” he added.
“Look, just take it all out the equation like they do in other sports. You just wear a hair bun to me. That’s just simple, and then you don’t have anyone to blame. That’s the rule.”
The Premier League appears to have a hair-pulling issue.
There have now been three red cards brandished during the 2025-26 Premier League season to players who have been deemed to have pulled the hair of their opponents.
This comes as Dan Ballard was dismissed in the first half of Sunderland’s 1-1 draw away to Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday after referee Paul Tierney reviewed an incident involving Wolves striker Tolu Arokodare.
The Black Cats stalwart defender became the latest player to be shown a straight red after the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) deemed the action as ‘violent conduct.’ and his season now comes to an end due to his automatic three-game suspension.
“It’s really hard to digest, because I don’t think it was intentional or violent conduct,” Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris said.
“… Many things can happen, but it wasn’t intentional, but if the rule is the rule, probably when you face a striker with long hair, you have [a] problem, because you can’t defend – anything can happen. …
“I think when it’s not intentional, it was an accident. It’s hard to execute the rule like it was intentional, so sometimes handball is the same – there’s always a grey area.Â
“With this rule, we are in that stage when you have to manage the rule to make it clean for different situations.”Â
Earlier in the season, Michael Keane saw red for a hair-pull on Arokodare which was appealed by Everton – and promptly rejected.
Then in April, Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez was given his marching orders – following a VAR intervention – after tugging on Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s bun in Leeds United’s shock 2-1 victory at Old Trafford.
Tierney was the referee on this occasion too.
Cascarino proposes enforcement of new rule
Ballard’s sending off once again brought up a debate over where the English top flight – and football in general – can go from here.
During talkSPORT’s Weekend Sports Breakfast on Sunday, co-hosts Shebahn Aherne and Tony Cascarino engaged in discussion over whether the Premier League should look to introduce a new rule specifically pertaining to hair-pulling in an effort to bridge the ‘grey area’ Le Bris had described.
“I’m sort of confused why players do it? Then if you pull shirts and you pull the shirt regularly does it just become a thing to grab the hair?” Cascarino questioned.
“They seem to get caught every time so I think it’s a really bad idea. You have to say to your players don’t grab someone’s hair because as soon as you do you’re getting a red card.
“Whereas if you pull a shirt you can get booked, but if you pull the hair you get a red card. So you’ve got to tell your players don’t even think about it.”
“The big one from women’s football was Katie McCabe on Alicia Thompson in the Women’s Champions League against Chelsea very recently and how the ref didn’t see it was beyond me,” Aherne responded, with hair-pulling not limited to the men’s game.
“One thing I will say as a woman who has hair extensions and has long hair. Accidents happen at times. I’ve got young kids and where they’re going to grab you playing around they can pull your hair.
“This might actually offend people, which is wild, but get your hair tied up. Get it out the way. It’s not that hard.
“I know Dominic Calvert-Lewin had his bun on that day when Lisandro Martinez caught him. Everyone’s saying that’s violent conduct. Get it tied all the way up. There comes this point now. Is it going to be used by a striker?”
Cascarino added: “I never thought I’d have a conversation about hair being pulled in football but it has been a thing. It’s a theme.
“The Cucurella one years gone by was one of the most blatant ones. I don’t know what goes in a player’s mindset when they think ‘I’ll pull his hair.’”
The former Gillingham and Millwall striker later suggested that a new rule should be implemented to prevent more hair pulling red cards.
“We’ve given so many different descriptions there of how a hair pull can be that bad and how serious It can be,” he added.
“Look, just take it all out the equation like they do in other sports. You just wear a hair bun to me. That’s just simple, and then you don’t have anyone to blame. That’s the rule.”
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| đź“° PublicaciĂłn: | talksport.com |
| ✍️ Autor: | Kerrie Jacobs-Bryant |
| đź“… Fecha Original: | 2026-05-03 15:21:00 |
| đź”— Enlace: | Ver artĂculo original |
Nota de transparencia: Este artĂculo ha sido traducido y adaptado del inglĂ©s al español para facilitar su comprensiĂłn. El contenido se mantiene fiel a la fuente original, disponible en el enlace proporcionado arriba.
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