FartGate: Swedish Footballer In Shock After Being Shown Red For Breaking Wind

A sending off was not quite what footballer Adam Lindin Ljungkvist expected when he decided to break wind on the pitch while playing for his club Pershagen SK in a lower-league game in Sweden last week.

However, letting one go during the game didn't do Ljungkvist any favours, as the match official took cognisance of his act and showed him a red card.

The referee termed the act as 'unsportsmanlike', and accused the player of targeting his fart at another individual.

A couple of days later, the 'fartgate' incident went viral across social media, with Ljungkvist suddenly finding himself at the center of media attention.

"I had a bad stomach, so I simply let go," he later clarified to local media following the game.

"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," he added.

"I was shocked! The bench didn't believe me when I came to them and said I got a red card for farting," he was quoted as saying by BBC Newsbeat.

The referee, Dany Kako, has clarified that he didn't see Ljungkvist's behaviour as appropriate for a player on the pitch.

A local media portal in Sweden quoted Kako as saying, "Once there was a player who stood and peed next to the pitch. I showed him a yellow card, too."

Twitter, however, saw the funny side of the incident, and within a matter of a few days, Ljungkvist has now earned global fame for his on-field flatulence.