Fans left stunned by incident 'never seen' before as physio sent off during Norwegian match

Fans were left stunned when a physio was sent off during a Norwegian top flight fixture.

Referees across European football have started to crack down on dissent in recent years, and rightly so.

At a time when technology and VAR are taking decision-making power away from on-field officials, it's important that a certain level of respect is maintained between them and players.

That said, one referee in Norway clearly took things a little far.

Fans were left gobsmacked when the referee sent off a physio during Sarpsborg's Norwegian top flight clash with Brann on Saturday.

With the score locked at 0-0 with about five minutes remaining, a Sarpsborg player went down with what appeared to by cramp.

The team's physio, Joao Ferreira, rant onto the pitch to attend the player, but he was immediately booked by the referee after entering the field without permission.

Ferreira was caught by the TV cameras protesting and pointing at the referee, at which point he was shown a second yellow card and a red.

The physio couldn't quite believe what was happening, and he laughed at the referee as he initially remained on the pitch.

Several Brann players then stopped him from approaching the official, before Sarpsborg's stars got involved to back their physio.

Ferreira returned to the sideline shaking his head in disbelief, and could now face a ban.

"Never seen anything like this," one fan wrote on X when reacting to the sending off.

Another commented: "Ref has a clownmaster degree."

After play eventually resumed, Sarpsborg took a late lead when Henrik Wendel Meister scored in the 91st minute.

But Brann managed to snatch a point in the fourth minute of injury-time, with substitute Aune Heggebo striking at the death.

While dramatic endings to games are not uncommon, not many fans will have ever seen a physio receiving a red card before.