There was some unfortunate fowl play in a recent lower-league football match in Croatia when a player was sent off for killing a chicken that had strayed onto the pitch.
NK Jelengrad were taking on Jasenovac in the 2nd Sisak-Moslavina County League when a group of poultry made their way onto the field from a nearby farm.
Enraged at the encroachment, Jelengrad’s Ivan Gazdek, 23, chased the hens before aiming a kick at one, killing it dead.
WARNING: SOME READERS MAY FIND THE FOLLOWING IMAGES UPSETTING
With feathers strewn across the pitch, the footballer picked up the bird and tossed it casually over the railing before running back to continue the game.
Gazdek was reportedly handed a straight red card by the referee afterwards for “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
The player later apologized to the late chicken’s owner, saying he had sent him a new bird by means of compensation.
However, he said he was angry about the “unhygienic” rural conditions which prompted his outburst.
“Chickens constantly enter the field. The terrain is full of faeces - these are unhygienic conditions,” Gazdek said, according to local outlet 24 Sata.
“I ran a little to the chickens to chase them off, I swung my foot and killed one by accident. F*ck it. The referee ran up to me and showed me a direct red card.
“Believe me, I did not intentionally kill this chicken. I apologized to the owner by letter and sent her a new chicken.
“I have a dog, two cats, and I also had a parrot, which recently sadly died,” Gazdek added in an apparent attempt to deflect further criticism.
Also on rt.com ‘Utterly bizarre’: Croatian team celebrate ‘ghost goal’ – only for opposition to go up other end and score (VIDEO)The player’s dismissal did not hinder his team as Jelengrad ran out 8-1 winners, and Gazdek said the chicken killing incident had not dampened the mood after the game.
“Nobody thought about it after the game - we ate goulash and enjoyed ourselves,” he said.