Paulo Diogo

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Paulo Diogo da Cruz (born 21 April 1975) is a Swiss professional footballer of Portuguese origin who played for Servette FC in the Swiss first division. He is notable in football lore for a unique and gruesome accident that he suffered on the football pitch which resulted in him losing his left ring finger.

On December 5, 2004, playing for Servette in an away game against Schaffhausen, Diogo set up a goal for Jean Beausejour in the 87th minute of the game. By way of celebration, he jumped up on the metal perimeter fence separating the fans from the pitch. Unnoticed by him, his wedding ring caught in the barrier (Diogo had married not long before). As he jumped off the fence, much of his finger tore off along with the ring.

To add insult to injury, the referee Florian Etter then penalized him with a yellow card for excessive time-wasting with his "celebration". In fact, the match stewards were searching for his finger. Later that night, Diogo was taken to a Zurich hospital, but the doctors failed to re-attach the severed part of the finger and advised that the remaining part of his finger be amputated to the first joint. He has since continued to play football since the accident.