5 most ridiculous red cards in football history

Red cards in football are always going to be controversial business – after all, a team losing a player and going down to ten men can often be enough to swing a match in the favour of the opposition. Look at Liverpool’s loss to Manchester City a few months ago following Sadio Mane’s sending off, for instance, or England’s 1998 World Cup defeat at the hands of Argentina after David Beckham’s dismissal.

Sometimes though, red cards move from the realm of controversial into the plain ridiculous. What the referees were thinking for the following five sending off, lord only knows. Here are five of the most downright ridiculous red cards of all time.

#5. Raheem Sterling vs. Bournemouth, 2017

We begin with a recent incident that saw Manchester City’s flying winger Raheem Sterling sent off in a match against Bournemouth just a couple of months ago. Sterling’s crime? Apparently, he celebrated his goal a little too much for referee Mike Dean’s liking and it didn’t matter to Dean that Sterling’s goal came in the 97th minute, allowing City to win the game 2-1 and secure three valuable points.

Admittedly, Sterling had run quite the distance to celebrate with City’s travelling fans – some 1,200 of them – and the wild celebration did cause some of them to spill down onto the pitch. But really, is that Sterling’s fault? You’d have to argue no. It wasn’t like the England star deliberately incited Bournemouth’s fans – which is a big no-no in football – and nor did he perform any kind of offensive celebration. It was simply a case of a player absolutely overjoyed to have won the match for his team.

Pep Guardiola, City’s manager, also demanded an explanation for the red card after the game as he felt aggrieved too, but unsurprisingly he was offered none. Sterling had already been booked for an earlier foul – somewhat petty too as that came in the 91st minute – which did mean that the celebration technically only earned him a second yellow, but even so – surely Mike Dean could’ve shown some common sense given the game was basically over anyway? Instead, he came off as a petty killjoy.

#4. David Healy vs. Wales, 2004

If you thought that Sterling could feel aggrieved over his celebration-based red card, save a thought for David Healy. The Northern Ireland striker was dismissed in a 2006 World Cup qualifying game in 2004 against Wales – a game that actually saw three men sent off by referee Domenico Messina. The first two red cards – for Michael Hughes and Robbie Savage following an off-the-ball scuffle – were totally justified, but nobody sane could justify the Healy sending off.

Northern Ireland were already 1-0 up when Healy raced through on goal following a slip from James Collins and subsequently lifted the ball over goalkeeper Paul Jones to nod into the empty net. Healy went on to celebrate the goal by apparently gesturing to his father in the crowd with a bit of a fist-pump, and then did a flying kick into the corner flag. Hardly offensive or questionable, but clearly it ticked off the Italian referee, as he sent Healy off – not a straight red, but two bookings – one for the fist-pump and one for the kick.

It was a baffling decision to say the least, although the two yellow cards rather than a straight red were a blessing in disguise as it meant that Healy was only hit with a one-match ban rather than the three-match one for a straight sending off. Naturally, Northern Ireland manager Lawrie Sanchez was furious, labelling Messina’s performance “disappointing” and “strange”, and claiming something must’ve been lost in translation to cause the sending off. You don’t say!

#3. Robin Van Persie vs. Barcelona, 2011

Referees across Europe have often been criticised for being biased towards Barcelona, but most of the time the arguments tend to be unrealistic at best and mean-spirited at worst. On the odd occasion though, it seems like the critics have a point, and that was definitely the case when Arsenal faced Barca in the 2011 Champions League last-16.

After Arsenal won the first leg 2-1, Barcelona had their backs to the wall and they took the lead through Lionel Messi, only for Arsenal to equalize through a Sergio Busquets own goal. Then came the turning point; Van Persie, who had been booked for a foul earlier in the game, shot towards goal after the whistle had gone for an offside. Van Persie claimed he hadn’t heard the whistle due to the crowd noise in the packed Nou Camp, but evidently referee Massimo Busacca didn’t believe him, as he showed the Dutch striker his second yellow card.

Barcelona went on to score another two goals – winning the tie 4-3 – and Arsenal were left licking their wounds. Arsene Wenger claimed the sending off “killed the tie”, while Van Persie himself labelled the decision an “absolute joke”. Given there was around a second between the whistle going and Van Persie’s shot, you’d have to argue that both men probably had a point. This was ludicrous refereeing.

#2. Hakan Unsal vs. Brazil, 2002

From referees losing the plot to an official who was just plain conned. Turkey’s 2002 World Cup group stage tie with Brazil had been simmering for 87 minutes with the score tied at 1-1, when a questionable penalty was awarded to Brazil due to a foul from Alpay that clearly occurred outside the box – Brazil’s Luizao fell into the box and the official mistakenly pointed to the spot. That allowed Rivaldo to put Brazil into the lead, but his next move was truly shameful.

Brazil earned a corner kick and with Rivaldo in position to take it, Turkey’s Hakan Unsal decided to kick the ball directly at him in a flash of anger. It was a stupid move, no question, but the ball clearly struck Rivaldo on the thigh. Rather than ignore it, the Brazilian hit the floor clutching his face, like he’d been hit with sniper fire from the crowd. Despite the linesman being directly in front of the incident, referee Kim Young Joo was still taken in by Rivaldo’s acting and showed Unsal a needless second yellow.

Rivaldo went on to admit that the ball had only hit his leg and that he duped the referee, but was relatively unrepentant, claiming that “these things happen in football” and largely blaming Unsal for kicking the ball at him in the first place. He had somewhat of a point given Unsal shouldn’t have kicked the ball at him, but it was still a ridiculous sending off with an inexperienced referee being conned in extraordinary fashion.

#1. Josip Simunic vs. Australia, 2006

Another incident from the World Cup, 2006 this time, this one wasn’t ridiculous for the reason behind the sending off, but more for the debacle that surrounded it. English referee Graham Poll had more than enough reason to send off Croatia’s Josip Simunic in a group game against Australia, given the defender appeared to push him as the match ended. The problem was that Simunic should never have been on the pitch in the first place – he’d already been shown his second yellow minutes before!

Instead Poll awarded him an inexplicable third yellow card for the shove, leading to the inevitable red and the sending off. It was one of the biggest refereeing gaffes in football history and definitely, one of the most ridiculous sending offs. For his part, Poll admitted to his mistake, and also defended his assistants – who also missed the mistake – by claiming that the “buck stopped with him”. He also blamed it on mistakenly writing down the name of Australian Craig Moore for Simunic’s second booking, as the Aussie-born Simunic apparently spoke with a similar accent.

The excuse wasn’t enough to save Poll though and he was sent home as a laughing stock following the group stage, ending his dream of potentially refereeing in the final. He went on to retire from refereeing international football – quite understandably really. The incident remains – to the best of my knowledge – the only time that a player has received three yellow cards in one game.