Red card.
BY NT CORRESPONDENT.
Swedish footballer has hit out at a referee who sent him off the pitch for farting during a match.
On the other hand the referee accused the player of deliberately provoking him and disrespecting sportsmanship.
Adam Lindin Ljungkvist, who was playing at left-back in the match between Järna SK’s reserve team and Pershagen SK, was shown a second yellow card in what many saw as bizarre circumstances.
“I had a bad stomach, so I simply let go,” the 25-year-old told Länstidningen Södertälje.
“Then I received two yellow cards and then red. Yes, I was shocked, it’s the strangest thing I have ever experienced in football
“I asked the referee, ‘What, am I not allowed to break wind a little?’ ‘No,’ he replied … I don’t get it but maybe he thought I farted in my hand and threw the fart at him. But I did not.”
Opposition striker Kristoffer Linde said that he was standing a good distance away but heard the fart loud and clear.
He said it was the strangest thing he has ever seen on a pitch, despite playing football since childhood, eight years old.
The referee, Dany Kako, confirmed that Ljungkvist had received the second yellow card for breaking wind, explaining:
The referee said he perceived the fart as a deliberate provocation. He added that the player did it on purpose and it was inappropriate. “Therefore, he received a yellow card.”
Ljungkvist told Aftonbladet: “To provoke anyone with a fart is not particularly smart or normal. It’s nonsense – I just broke wind and got a red card. I spoke to the referee afterwards, I was annoyed, but there were no bad words. I just said he was a buffoon.”
Kako said he had experienced similar incidents before. “Once there was a player who stood and peed next to the pitch. I showed him a yellow card, too.”
