Pigtail-pulling red cards

It is happening in football more frequently nowadays. Only the Saturday just gone, there was an incident where an English Premier League (EPL) footballer got his marching orders after VAR picked up on the fact that he had 'tugged' at an opponent's hair. But, was it intentional or not (see further reference below)? Currently, as the Laws of the Game stand, committing such an 'offence' is dismissible under the terms of Law 12 which covers fouls and misconduct, even though hair pulling is not specifically mentioned.

Now, here's the interesting part. Hair pulling is not actually forbidden in the game of association football. However, those wonderful Laws of the Game changers who rewrite those laws to suit their own aims, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), have decided that pigtail-pulling is an offence punishable by a direct red card and a three-match ban. In one particular incident I watched live on TV recently, VAR got over-excited at such an incident, referred the referee to the pitch-side monitor and the offending player was dismissed as a result. Yet, the slowed-down replay showed that the player was grabbing at the shirt of his opponent and the hair unfortunately got in the way. There appeared to be no intent, malicious or otherwise, to tug on his locks. Even though the act of pulling a shirt is a yellow card caution offence, because hair got in the way during that incident, the 'offender' was deemed to have committed a violent conduct offence.

The main problem with IFAB constantly changing, or adding to, the Laws of the Game willy-nilly is that referees and VAR are having to make split-second decisions that take an offence too literally, even to the point where an accidental infringement must also be punished because there is no alternative option or refereeing initiative; they have to follow the directive to the letter of Law 12 and as demanded by IFAB. Will the incidents of hair-tugging calm down in the foreseeable future? Only time can tell.

In the meantime, players who wear their hair in dreadlocks fashion, or long but tied back, or even long and flowing will probably continue to have their hair tugged if they put temptation in the path of their opponents. It's only natural that the practice will continue to happen when players get heated; not so much in the EPL because the 'offenders' can no longer get away with it as 'Big Brother VAR' gets better at spotting it, but almost certainly outside of the EPL and right down to grass roots level of the game where referees and linos are not so eagle-eyed to spot such infringements. Maybe the offence was prevalent during my refereeing days on the parks but, if I couldn't see it, I couldn't act on it. And, in any case, Law 12 doesn't specifically mention hair pulling as violent conduct but has become an unwritten issue that referees have to enforce if seen, since around 2022.

So, how do the ladies' teams get on with pigtail pulling incidents during a game of football? There's been a couple of reported incidents from Germany as recently as 2025 and 2026 where women players were shown straight red cards for tugging opponents' hair, while an incident between two well-known English ladies' teams in April 2026 resulted in the referee failing to issue a red card for hair pulling. It appears, therefore, that in both the men's and women's footballing disciplines pigtail pulling is evident.

Whether rightly or wrongly players continue to experience an early bath for tugging at an opponent's locks, it may need a complete overhaul of Law 12, citing the big difference between a deliberate or accidental hand on hair situation. I am rather surprised that IFAB haven't dealt with the matter already. And, who is to say that IFAB won't dismiss the option of making maximum hair length a part of any Law 12 update? Just sayin'...

Trevor Mulligan