A<a href="https://www.archysport.com/2022/01/the-incredible-save-of-moris-which-allows-the-union-to-win-the-brussels-derby-video/" title="The incredible save of Moris which allows the Union to win the Brussels derby (VIDEO)”>Anthony Moris, the Union goalkeeper and captain, found himself the center of attention this Saturday evening. Despite himself, he provoked theend of the meetingbefore getting angry at Besnik Hasi, the coach of Mechelen, to whom he threw his jersey in the face a few moments before returning to the locker room. A reaction that the Luxembourg international regrets. “I apologize publicly and apologized to Besnik Hasi for my inappropriate action. I did it because it’s hard to keep your cool and calm when someone comes and tells you that you have nothing and that you have to move on. My goal was to make him feel like I had a cup full of beer dumped on my stomach. What’s more, a reusable plastic cup. When it falls from 15 or 20 meters high, it really hurts extremely. The goal was to tell Besnik that from the moment we, actors, players, coaches, staff or club, do not decide to act more firmly to condemn the actions of such supporters, it is an open door to all overflows. Especially since Mechelen is accustomed to doing so. It should be remembered that Colin Coosemans had experienced the same mishap when he returned there with Anderlecht. »
In a post-match press conference, Besnik Hasi gave him a different version of the facts. “Moris probably thought I didn’t agree with the decision. But I was just going to ask the referee something. I totally disapprove of the behavior of the supporters. » But without rancor, the former Anderlecht player concluded, not without a touch of humor: “Actually, not much happened. If I meet Moris in Brussels this Sunday or Monday, I will ask him to go for a pint! »
“I did not decide myself to interrupt the match”
The Brussels goalkeeper also wanted to make things clear, while he is facing criticism from some of his own supporters. “No, I did not decide to interrupt the match myself. It was the referee protocol. Of course I wanted to continue. I just asked the physiotherapist, when I was on the ground, if it was possible to change my jersey. Because having my jersey and my face filled with beer was very unpleasant. Especially for the last 3 or 4 minutes of the game where I had to be very concentrated. In fact, I feel like I’m being talked about a lot in this whole thing, saying that I’m provocative and that sort of thing, when my goal was absolutely not to get to that point. »
“We cannot condone this physical violence”
Anthony Moris now hopes that measures will be taken to ensure that such excesses in stadiums do not happen again in the future. “We must not forget that we remain human beings. I have a wife, children, parents. My grandmother watches the matches. We must realize that we are talking here about physical violence. We cannot condone them. If tomorrow you go to the street and someone physically attacks you, no one would let it happen. And even less so in a football stadium. We must not forget that everything happens behind our backs, our guardians. We don’t see anything. Whether it’s throwing cups, beers, coins, lighters, firecrackers. I hope we will get tougher on this. And that all those who love football will speak out to denounce these actions. »