A semiprofessional soccer player was given a red card after attacking a chicken that had walked onto the playing field.
The blow, delivered by 23-year-old Ivan Gazdek, a member of the Croatian NK Jelengrad team, proved to be instantly fatal for the chicken, which belonged to a neighbor of the football field. Gazdek then picked up the deceased bird and threw it over the fence, causing feathers to fly. He was immediately issued a red card by a referee who cited “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Gazdek later defended his actions as an attempt to clear the field of chickens that were making playing conditions unsanitary. “Chickens constantly enter the field,” he said. “The terrain is full of feces — these are unhygienic conditions.”
He also claimed the fatal kick was unintentional and that he was trying to only shoo the chickens away, not harm them. “I ran a little to the chickens to chase them off,” he said. “I swung my foot and killed one by accident. F— it. The referee ran up to me and showed me a direct red card.”
After receiving international backlash for killing the chicken, which belonged to a neighboring farmer, Gazdek asserted that the attack was not meant to kill the chicken. “Believe me, I did not intentionally kill this chicken,” he said. “I apologized to the owner by letter and sent her a new chicken.” He also said that no one on the team was affected by the incident. “Nobody thought about it after the game — we ate goulash and enjoyed ourselves,” he said.
Gazdek also noted his own pet ownership as proof that the violent kick was unintentional. “I have a dog, two cats, and I also had a parrot, which recently sadly died,” he said. Gazdek was not further punished by his team.
