Bielik sees psychologist amid death threats claim

Cardiff City’s Krystian Bielik has turned to a psychologist to deal with alleged death threats after his controversial altercation with a Portsmouth fan.

Bielik is set to return from a two-match ban this weekend following the incident during the game at Fratton Park last month.

The Polish defender admitted a charge of misconduct having been deemed to have grabbed the young supporter by the shoulder.

Bielik said this week his family have received threats amid the controversy that also saw him fined £10,000.

Boss Brian Barry-Murphy said Cardiff City, including club psychologist Dr Mikel Mellick, were helping the 28-year-old cope with with the fallout.

“Yeah [we’ve spoken to him], just to make sure he’s okay,” he said.

“He’s had full support from all our departments to make sure him and his family felt reassured that we would do everything to protect him and support him in what was a stressful time.”

The Bluebirds have an in-house support team led by Mellick, who is also a principal lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

“We have Mikel at the training ground nearly all days,” Barry-Murphy added.

“And James [Rowland], head of medical, they’ve combined to make sure that the players get all the support they need on and off and away from the pitch with their extended families when necessary. It’s very important.”

‘Players not robots’

A Hampshire Police investigation into the flashpoint concluded no further action was needed, with Bielik being issued a community resolution order.

He also sent a written apology to the fan before he was charged by the Football Association.

Barry-Murphy provided a character reference and witness statement for Bielik’s independent regulatory commission hearing.

And he is keen for everyone to learn from the incident.

“Kystian apologised for what he did and the FA did the process like they want,” he said.

“All our players are aware of what we expect from them, and Krystian’s no different.

“Our job, because we work with these crowds, is to make sure [the players] have an awareness of what’s expected of them to remain professional at all times.

“But they’re not robots and they’re not perfect so there will be things that happen that we don’t predict or anticipate.

“Once it happens we just have to make sure we learn from it make sure it doesn’t happen again.”