Sam Kerr decks pitch invader during Chelsea Women’s Champions League match

The worst yellow card in the history of soccer was issued on Wednesday to Sam Kerr late in the second half of the Chelsea Women’s match against Juventus in the UEFA Champions League. If anything, Kerr deserves a raise for also doing security’s job.

In the 88th minute of a goalless game, a man came out of the stands at Kingsmeadow and went to get a selfie with Chelsea defender Magdalena Eriksson. The man then wandered about some, unbothered by any kind of stadium officials or police, until Kerr decided enough was enough and put him to the ground with a running shoulder tackle.

For doing this, referee Sara Persson showed Kerr the yellow. Why? This man fucked around, and thanks to Kerr, he found out.

There’s a fine line here, because an athlete who physically contacts a fan on a field or court, regardless of how right they are (extremely right), risks legal trouble if they truly mess someone up. It’s wrong, but you know that if Kerr punched this dork in the face and broke his nose, he may well seek to take her to court. Really, Kerr played this perfectly, taking the guy out and doing more than anyone actually charged with doing so to protect herself and her teammates.

Seriously, where the fuck was security as this dingbat moseyed about the field without a care in the world until Kerr took care of business? Monica Seles was stabbed in 1993, a few months before Kerr was born, and somehow a professional sports team the size of Chelsea is unprepared for this happenstance? What if this guy had been after more than a selfie? And do you think if someone tried this during a Chelsea men’s game at Stamford Bridge, things would have been different?

It was Kerr who got the yellow card, but Chelsea and UEFA who need to be cautioned over this.