I did a football match a few years back where a similar based challenge was made (nowhere near as severe ) and at awarding the free kick, the player who was fouled shouted back something like "come on ref, that's a clothes peg"
Time stood still for a second while the penny dropped for everyone who was near the incident, then myself and the player included burst into laughter before I quipped in with "I am not going to caution anyone for giving you a clothes peg sorry"
well I found it amusing.