Chelsea manager Sonia Bompastor was sent off after Arsenal full back Katie McCabe pulled the hair of Chelsea and U.S. women’s national team forward Alyssa Thompson in the final seconds of a tense Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday at Stamford Bridge.
McCabe was not disciplined for the incident at the end of the second leg tie. The North London side, who are Champions League holders, lost 1-0 on the night but advanced to the semifinals 3-2 on aggregate.
Chelsea striker Sjoeke Nusken finally broke the deadlock with a near-post finish from a Sam Kerr cross in the fourth of five minutes of stoppage time. The German international’s goal narrowed Chelsea’s deficit to just one with barely a minute left in the match.
Seconds later, McCabe pulled Thompson to the ground by her hair, but referee Frida Klarlund neglected to call a foul, let alone issue a card, and play continued. There did not appear to be a VAR check during the match.
Thompson could be heard shouting, “She pulled my hair!” on broadcast, which was carried by Paramount+ in the U.S. McCabe could be seen approaching Thompson with her arm around her shoulder in what appeared to be an attempt at an apology.
Bompastor was shortly thereafter handed two quick-succession yellow cards to equal a red, presumably over the lack of a foul given to McCabe for the offense. At one point, Bompastor entered the pitch near the touchline, attempting to grab a ball that had gone out of bounds.
“I don’t understand why the VAR cannot check that… the refereeing is not good enough.” 🗣️
Sonia Bompastor reacts to the incident involving Katie McCabe pulling Alyssa Thompson’s hair and the controversial decision not to show a red card 😳 pic.twitter.com/cxrO4kKRBj
— W Golazo (@WGolazo) April 1, 2026
The two teams played an additional two minutes of stoppage time beyond the five, before Klarlund blew the final whistle and ended the game.
“I think everyone could see the evidence,” Bompastor said in a press conference after the match. “One of my players had her hair pulled. I can understand the ref sometimes can’t see that, but I don’t understand why the VAR is not checking that situation. Why are they not going back to that, checking and having a clear call on that?”
Bompastor went on to say that Thompson “was emotional” following the incident. “When you play football and someone pulls your hair — I don’t know if you have been in that situation, it is painful. I just think it’s not good enough. I’m the one who gets the red card, when I think it should be the Arsenal player who gets the red card. What is the VAR doing? I don’t understand, it’s not good enough.”
Asked about McCabe’s claim that she intended only to grab Thompson’s shirt, Bompastor said, “I think the intention is clear. She tried to pull the hair. It’s a red card.”
After the whistle, CBS Sports rules analyst and former FIFA referee Christina Unkel said that while the offense may not have been clear on first view, “Everything about this is saying it is a full-on hair pull right there,” noting Thompson’s visible reaction on replay.
“This is what we call a clear and obvious error (that) should be, must be a red card,” Unkel added.
Unkel, who is also a VAR certified referee, wondered why the video assistant did not intervene — further or at all, which is still unclear. “I’m confident that there’s VAR searching in case there was some technical error or technical glitch or some issue going on with VAR that didn’t recommend it,” she said.
Shortly after the match, McCabe posted on her Instagram Story: “I just want to clarify that I was genuinely reaching for the shirt, I wouldn’t ever want to pull someone’s hair. Full respect to Thompson.”
When asked about possible repercussions for McCabe, the officials, or VAR, Unkel pointed out that because the incident did not amount to serious foul play (in which the ball is involved in the action), the league can retroactively investigate it as violent conduct that can be sanctioned.
“So potentially Katie could find herself sanctioned for one game because of the violent conduct actions of it. It’s not necessarily playing the ball,” Unkel said.
Wednesday night’s Champions League incident was the latest in a recent space of hair pulling offenses in women’s football.
On March 20 in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Portland Thorns fullback Reyna Reyes was shown a red card for pulling the hair of Seattle Reign fullback Madison Curry as the two contested a ball in the air.
Last season in the NWSL on May 24, Racing Louisville forward Kayla Fischer yanked the ponytail of then-Angel City midfielder Madison Hammond during a corner kick, earning a straight red. In both instances, the league decided that Fischer and Reyes had violated the “Major Game Misconduct” section of the League Operations Manual and would both serve additional one-game suspensions for a total of two each.
Thompson, who signed with Chelsea from Angel City on Sept. 4 last year, has also been subjected to hair pulling in the Women’s Super League. Weeks after joining the London club and playing in a match against West Ham on Sept. 28, defender Ines Belloumou was sent off with a red for the foul.
One of the more high profile cases took place during last summer’s Euros in a quarterfinal between Germany and France. In the 13th minute, German defender Kathrin Hendrich was shown a red card for pulling French defender Griedge Mbock Bathy’s hair inside the penalty box. Germany went on to win the match 6-5 on penalties.
It has happened in the men’s game as well. Spanish defender Marc Cucurella, who also plays for Chelsea, has also been the target of hair pulling: once in a game against Southampton at the hands of defender Jack Stephens on Dec. 4, 2024, and more recently last summer during the Club World Cup final. Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Joao Neves was the culprit in that case as Chelsea went on to unseat the French Champions League title holders and win the inaugural tournament.
