Shamed Mohsni in coward jibe at Erwin
BILEL MOHSNI last night came out swinging in defence of his shameful Fir Park meltdown as he branded Lee Erwin a ‘coward’. The SFA are preparing to hit Mohsni with an excessive misconduct charge for kicking and punching the Motherwell forward at the end of Rangers’ Premiership Play-Off Final defeat on Sunday. That could result in a significant ban that follows Mohsni to any new club overseas, after his agent yesterday admitted his ‘career in Britain was over’. However, there was little sign of contrition from the Tunisian international as he gave his side of the story, having returned to France to ponder his next move. Mohsni reacted violently to a shove in the back from Erwin, who claims his offer of a handshake was refused by the defender. ‘I’m very disappointed the way this has been portrayed,’ said Mohnsi. ‘What happened was I was leaving the pitch to the dressing room and I was extremely upset because
Rangers had lost. All I wanted to do was get back inside and didn’t want to talk to anyone, then this guy pushed me — he attacked me from behind.
‘What do you call someone who attacks you from behind? A coward.
‘I was worried about my security, so I did the only thing I could ... I defended myself.
‘ It was self- defence. I t hought I was getting attacked.
‘ Of course, it has been written like the Scottish man was right and the foreigner was wrong, but I think justice should be the same for everybody.
‘It’s easy for people who watched it from the stands or on TV to say things, but when you are actually on the pitch it is different.
‘ Let me ask people in Scotland this: if you are out with your family and a coward attacks you from behind, what would you do? Of course you defend yourself.
‘I didn’t know what was going to happen next, so I simply defended myself from a cowardly assault.
‘I apologise to the Rangers fans if the pictures shocked them. But I always say to my young nephew, for example, that if someone attacks you when you grow up, you defend yourself.
‘I am fully aware I am an example to Rangers fans and I have spent a lot of time visiting hospitals and schools when I was in Glasgow and loved it. But again, I would point out that I did the only thing I could do in the circumstances and defended myself.’
Rangers would have taken stringent disciplinary action had his contract not expired, but exiting Scotland will not free Mohsni from the consequences of his actions.
An SFA notice of complaint is expected to be issued against the 27-year-old within the next 48 hours, leading to the possibility of a ban from a Judicial Panel. Any foreign club would have to get Mohsni’s registration transferred from the SFA to make him eligible to play.
A number of national associations would automatically transfer a sanction i mposed in Scotland as part of that process, but there could also be scope f or FIFA i nvolvement were t he centre-half to turn up in a country which didn’t.
Poli c e Scotland met with the SFA and SPFL yesterday to discuss Mohsni’s actions and the other chaotic scenes witnessed at Fir Park.
They offered no further comment last night and it remains to be seen if they are now content to let the football authorities deal with what unfolded.
Further SFA action against Erwin or team-mate Fraser Kerr is not expected as their offences are deemed to have been sufficiently covered by the post-match red cards shown by Craig Thomson.
However, Motherwell could face sanctions for the pitch invasion which saw their fans goad the visiting support and prompted police horses to move in.
Crowd trouble falls under the remit of the SPFL, who could also look at Rangers captain Lee McCulloch being hit in the face with a flagpole by a home fan and a flare being thrown on the pitch after Motherwell’s second goal.
Rangers are thought to have been particularly concerned by the pitch invasion, insisting they would ‘co-operate fully with investigations following the disgraceful scenes at the Motherwell game’.
The I brox statement added: ‘ Bilel Mohsni’s behaviour was completely unacceptable and had his contract not now expired, the club would have started disciplinary proceedings
‘The club will also assist with any investigation into the behaviour of Motherwell supporters and we would like to thank the Rangers fans who were excellent in s howing admirable restraint despite severe provocation.’
Motherwell general manager Alan Burrows responded, telling BBC Scotland: ‘ If there are issues between clubs we always try and keep it behind closed doors and try to sort it out, so from that point of view it is a little disappointing Rangers have felt the need to comment on our supporters, we certainly wouldn’t do that.’
A spokesman for the SPFL said: ‘We expect to receive the match delegate’s report, including input from officials and police, within the next few days and will review this in the normal manner.’