Mousinho ‘furious’ over account of Bielik incident
Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho says he was “absolutely furious” at the position he says he was put in over an incident involving Krystian Bielik and a supporter during Saturday’s victory over Cardiff City.
Bluebirds defender Bielik was involved in a physical altercation with a fan as he went to retrieve a ball from the crowd late in the second half.
After the fixture, Hampshire Police said it had launched an investigation into an incident “in which a teenage boy was reportedly the victim of a common assault”.
Mousinho initially apologised to Cardiff City players following the incident and condemned the behaviour of the supporters involved but on Wednesday, during his pre-match media commitments before Saturday’s fixture against Charlton, he said the comments were based only on the account he had been given of the incident.
“I’ve now seen the footage and my comments post-match were entirely based off what I was told,” Mousinho told BBC Radio Solent.
“When the altercation kicked off I couldn’t see it from where I was myself, the referee then spoke to us and his words at the time were very clear that he had seen the incident in its entirety.
“He said that as Krystian went over to get the ball, the fan slapped him, and a second fan threw a ball at Perry Ng’s head.”
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Mousinho’s post-match comments received a negative response from the Pompey fanbase and he said he was annoyed to have been wrongly assured on what transpired.
Several Portsmouth supporters in the ground at the time made gestures that indicated they believed the fan had been grabbed by the throat.
“My first reaction having seen it back was that I was absolutely furious having been put in that position,” he added.
“What actually transpired is something that I need to sort out between myself and the referees’ association which I’m trying to do.
“On the incident itself there’s an ongoing police investigation into assault of a minor, so I don’t think it’s appropriate for me to comment on that.”
Pro Ref – the body that oversees all Premier League, EFL and Football Association competitions – has been contacted by the BBC for comment.
