Dan Ballard joined Michael Keane in the very specific 'players sent off for pulling Tolu Arokodare's hair' club. The Sunderland defender was dismissed by referee Paul Tierney after tugging the braids of the Wolves striker during an aerial duel, a decision that left manager Régis Le Bris frustrated.
Le Bris Reacts to Controversial Red Card
Régis Le Bris described Dan Ballard's red card for hair pulling as "hard to digest" as Sunderland's hopes of European football next season were dented by a draw at Wolves. Sunderland had taken the lead through Nordi Mukiele against already-relegated Wolves when Tierney sent off Ballard, ruling that he had deliberately pulled Arokodare's hair in an aerial challenge.
The red card meant Sunderland played with 10 men for over an hour, and Wolves capitalized on the advantage. Santiago Bueno equalized in the second half, ending a goal drought for Wolves that stretched back to mid-March.
Sunderland remain 12th in the table, and Ballard faces a three-match ban for violent conduct, effectively ending his season. Le Bris said: "We understand the rule and Paul Tierney is a great referee, but the execution of the rule is very hard to digest because I don't think it is intentional and violent conduct. We don't want to be controversial, we are here to help the game, but football is football. It is a duel in the air with a tall striker weighing around 100kg, and Ballard is also massive. When the ball is in the air 20 times a game, many things can happen. If the rule is the rule, when you have a striker with long hair, you will have problems because you can't defend. It was more or less the case. They executed the rule, but it's a bit hard to digest."
Previous Incidents and Appeal Considerations
Michael Keane and Lisandro Martínez have also been penalized under the same rule this season, with Keane also pulling Arokodare's hair. Both Everton and Manchester United failed to overturn their red cards on appeal. Le Bris will consider whether to appeal Ballard's dismissal, but he admitted uncertainty about how to avoid such offences in the future. "First of all, we'll see who the striker is. If he has long hair, we have a problem. If they play long, be careful and we'll see. Sometimes a handball is the same; it's probably a grey area. With this rule, we are at that stage where you have to manage the rule to make it clean for different situations."
Wolves Frustration Continues
Wolves were booed off at full-time as they remain bottom of the table. Manager Rob Edwards's decision to substitute Hugo Bueno late in the game for Angel Gomes was unpopular with fans. Edwards revealed that Bueno had not trained much during the week due to a knee problem. He said: "I'm very frustrated, we all are. I understand the situation. We've been relegated, we're bottom of the league, we've drawn a game against 10 men off the back of three defeats in a row. I'm going to take it. It doesn't concern me. We have three more games where we have to get more results and turn things around. It will be all the more rewarding when we are able to turn things around."
