Krystian Bielik, a defender for Championship club Cardiff City F.C., was struck by a fan Saturday in an altercation that led to Portsmouth head coach John Mousinho apologizing.
Around the 72nd minute of the match, with Cardiff trailing, Bielik went to get the ball from a fan in the stands, and footage appeared to show the 28-year-old making contact with the area near the spectator’s throat.
It’s unclear who made contact first, but Mousinho — citing a conversation with a referee — said Bielik was “struck” by a fan, according to The Athletic, and Cardiff head coach Brian Barry-Murphy said that Bielik was “slapped in the face.”
“The referee said that, as Krystian went to get the ball, there was a little bit of a kerfuffle and one of the supporters struck him,” Mousinho told reporters following the match. “It wasn’t a good incident. I have just seen him there, and he was OK, but that’s not the point, we can’t be having that.
“We want to create a really difficult atmosphere at Fratton Park, we have done that successfully over the past few years. Sometimes it tips over, I understand that, I don’t think it needs to tip over to that extent. We extend our apologies to the players, Cardiff and make sure we can try to cut it out.”
Even if the fan made contact first, it’s unclear if Bielik — who played for West Brom last season and signed with Cardiff City last month — could still face consequences for subsequently grabbing the fan.
“I’m sure the club and the FA will look at this and implement the correct process,” Barry-Murphy told reporters.
Later in the match, another fan tried to throw the ball and make contact with Bielik but instead hit a Cardiff teammate, according to the Daily Mail.
Conor Shaughnessy and Marko Milovanovic scored the goals for Portsmouth during its 2-0 win Saturday, with Cardiff City, which was promoted back to the Championship from third-tier League One for this season, sitting in 22nd — out of 24 teams — in the standings and Portsmouth in 14th.
