Man United fail to overturn Martinez’s red card

The club from Old Trafford have failed in their attempt to overturn Lisandro Martinez’s red card after a hair-pulling incident involving Leeds United forward Dominic Calvert-Lewin. The English football governing body has upheld the 3-game suspension, leaving interim head coach Michael Carrick with a major defensive problem.

The FA has revealed that the Argentinian defender must serve a full 3-game ban after the Red Devils’ appeal for wrongful dismissal was rejected. They confirmed that the referee did not make a “clear and obvious error” in showing red card to Lisandro for his incident with Calvert-Lewin.

The Argentinian player already missed his team’s 1-0 win against Chelsea and will be unavailable for 2 more matches – against Brentford and Liverpool in the Premier League.

“We are very disappointed with the FA decision,” the Man United manager revealed. “We are unhappy with it. I already shared what I think about Martinez’s red card after the match, and my opinion didn’t change at all. However, we must accept it as we can’t do anything more and move on, no matter if we agree with them or not.”

More on this topic:

Maguire receives an extra ban and will miss Chelsea match

🚨 The FA has rejected Manchester United’s appeal against Lisandro Martínez’s red card, ruling it was not a clear and obvious error.

They also dismissed claims the punishment was excessive, stating that “pulling hair is an intolerable act that must not be encouraged.”… pic.twitter.com/6MFvrIOChn

— SimplyUtd (@SimplyUtd) April 24, 2026