Papy Djilobodji will not forget the 2015/2016 season in a hurry.
The Senegalese defender, who’s on loan from Chelsea, made an at best ill-advised and at worst disgusting throat-slitting gesture on Saturday in the direction of Mainz winger Pablo de Blasis (who looks like he would fail the height restrictions for most amusement park rides). He’s now been banned for three games.
Sometimes players receive cards for professional fouls or clumsy challenges, and sometimes they get them for acts of stupidity that look even crazier in the cold light of day. Papy’s definitely falls into the latter of the category.
Here are some of the more ridiculous red card incidents in recent history.
Why would anyone want to be a referee? The fans hate you, the managers hate you and every decision you make is scrutinised.
And sometimes you get punched in the head.
And sometimes you get punched in the head by a player… it’s pretty rare but once was probably enough for Israel Nkongo. The official was punched by Stephano Mwasika after he had the nerve to send off his team-mate.
After the incident, the player was banned for a year by the Tanzanian Football Federation. Hopefully he used it to find ways to relieve stress like yoga or punching bags – not referees.
Jordan Ayew probably wished he never moved to Aston Villa. His former team Lorient are in the semi-finals of the French Cup, whilst his Premier League outfit do a terrible impression of a Premier League team.
He is probably finding it pretty hard to find any good jollof rice in Birmingham.
Moreover, he is probably finding it pretty hard to find any good jollof rice in Birmingham… I can’t think of any other reason for this elbow on West Ham’s Aaron Cresswell, who seemed to be minding his own business before Jordan’s moment of madness.
After starting out with Sierra Leonean team, FC Kallon the striker has meandered around the lower leagues in Sweden without making too much of an impact.
You can only imagine how awkward it must have been for him when the rest of his team came into the changing room.
However, when you react to a red card like a five year old, it’s likely that you will get a little more attention than your talent warrants.
You can only imagine how awkward it must have been for him when the rest of his team came into the changing room at the end of the match.
Even though no one watches wrestling (or admits to it), we all have our favourite moves. We practice them on our brothers and (if we have a death wish) on our sisters.
Most people grow out of this at, say, 10 years old.
Most people grow out of this at, say, 10 years old… but maybe not Alex Song. He just had to practice his elbow on Mario Mandžukić during the last World Cup.
Sometimes when a football player is booked, you can get why they argue with the referee. After all, officials are only human and capable of making errors. But how the Ivorian could be incensed by the decision to send him off after slapping Newcastle’s Joey Barton in 2011 is beyond comprehension.
This (other) slap to Equatorial Guinea’s Naby Keïta, was probably the worst of the bunch.
So you’re playing in the Champions League at home in a key game. Your side are down 2-1, one of your key midfielders has been sent off and you only have ten minutes to get back into the game. Do you:
A: Do your best as one of the senior players to make sure your team gives its all to get back into the match.
B: Get sent off early so that you can get to the showers before all the guys with long hair use up the shampoo.
Well Yaya chose the second option, and decided to strike out for some crazy reason during this big game. To his credit though, he did apologise after.