Booked for a seagull impression? Football's strangest cards

In the Premier League, there is now another action that could potentially result in a penalty: imitating a seagull. Iliman Ndiaye scored the winning goal in Everton's 1-0 victory over Brighton and celebrated in front of the home fans by flapping his arms like a seagull, Brighton's nickname being "The Seagulls."

He was shown a yellow card for excessive celebration, leaving fans on social media puzzled and wondering what he had done wrong. Law 12 of the Laws of the Game, as defined by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), states: "While a player is permitted to celebrate when a goal is scored, the celebration must not be excessive; choreographed celebrations are not encouraged and must not cause excessive time-wasting."

The rules also state, “Leaving the field of play to celebrate a goal is not an offense which warrants a caution but players should return as soon as possible. A player must be cautioned if, in the opinion of the referee, he climbs on to a perimeter fence and/or approaches the spectators in a manner which causes safety and/or security issues, acts in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way, covers his head or face with a mask or other similar item, or removes his shirt or covers his head with his shirt, even if the goal is disallowed.”

However, the seagull imitation celebration is far from the strangest reason for a yellow or red card in football. BBC Sport has reviewed some other bizarre penalty cases. For example, in 1995, Paul Gascoigne picked up a yellow card dropped by the referee and jokingly held it up, resulting in a yellow card for "dissent." Also, earlier this season, Jose Mourinho was shown a yellow card for placing a laptop showing a disputed image in front of a television camera due to dissatisfaction with a referee's decision.

Other bizarre yellow card incidents include: in 2014, Roma player Alessandro Florenzi was cautioned for running into the stands to hug his 82-year-old grandmother after scoring a goal; in 2011, Dorchester Town player-coach Ashley Vickers was sent off with a red card for tackling a streaker wearing a "mankini"; and in 2024, Wycombe player Luke Leahy was cautioned for wiping the ball on a member of the ground staff’s jacket before taking a throw-in. Furthermore, there have been instances of players being sent off for urinating during a match, and even a player being shown a yellow card for passing gas.