Sunderland boss calls on Premier League chiefs to review hair pull rule after red card

Regis Le Bris has called on Premier League chiefs to review the controversial law surrounding hair pulls. The Sunderland boss was left aggrieved when Dan Ballard was shown a straight red card by referee Paul Tierney for tugging the braids of Wolves forward Tolu Arokodare in the first half of Saturday's 1-1 draw at Molineux. Ballard became the third player to be sent off for a hair pull this Premier League season, and the second involving Arokodare , who also had his braids tugged by Everton defender Michael Keane in January. The law reared its head last month when Manchester United's Lisandro Martinez was red carded for grabbing Dominic Calvert-Lewin's bun against Leeds. Le Bris said post-match: "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, many people are watching the Premier League and we want to be clean in our behaviours, but football is football. It is a duel in the air and with a tall striker [who weighs] 100kg more or less, Ballard is massive as well, so the ball in the air 20 times in a game, many things can happen. WORLD CUP LEGENDS: The stars who lit up football's greatest tournament - Buy the Special Edition today "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." Sunderland were leading 1-0 through Nordi Mukiele when Ballard was dismissed. Santiago Bueno equalised in the second half for relegated Wolves, as Le Bris' side missed the chance to move back into the top half. Should players be sent off for pulling an opponent's hair? Have your say in the comments section . Asked how similar sendings off can be avoided in future, the Black Cats boss was at a loss. "First of all, we'll see who is the striker," Le Bris said. "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 and with this rule we are at that stage where you have to manage the rule to make it clean for different situations." Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us - and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're cu rious, you can read our Privacy Notice .