He faced huge backlash! El Mala apologises to Schalke fans

The clash between 1. FC Köln and Schalke 04 had bloody consequences. After a shove from Said El Mala, Soufiane El-Faouzi collided in mid-air with his teammate Robin Gosens. Both Schalke players collapsed to the ground, bleeding heavily, and received lengthy treatment on the pitch. They were then substituted in the 43rd minute, wearing bloodstained shirts and head bandages, and taken to hospital.

Some fans subsequently came down hard on El Mala, whose shove had caused the collision, accusing him of unsportsmanlike conduct. The attacking player was not shown a card.

After the match, the youngster spoke to Sky about the incident: “First of all, I’m incredibly sorry. During the game, I didn’t even realise I’d pushed him into him that hard. I thought I was just using my body because I was battling with two players there, and I just wanted to make a bit of space.”

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The Köln player insisted he had not intended for the two to collide.

“I’m incredibly sorry. I hope they’re both okay. After they received treatment, I apologised straight away and said I hadn’t meant for that to happen. And yes, I’m just incredibly sorry.”

But he did not leave it there. Afterwards, he addressed the two injured Schalke players again, posting another apology on his Instagram story.

How did you see the incident? Can you understand the criticism of El Mala? Let us know in the comments!

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.