Bragarnik fumes over Mendy escaping punishment for Fort incident

Elche owner Christian Bragarnik has launched a scathing attack on Spanish football authorities for failing to punish Nobel Mendy after his challenge left Barcelona loanee Héctor Fort with a serious shoulder injury.

‘Absolute disgrace’

Bragarnik didn’t mince his words when discussing the controversial incident during an interview with Cope Elche, calling the lack of disciplinary action “a disgrace” in no uncertain terms.

The incident, which initially flew under the radar, saw Fort injured after scoring against Elche. Mendy appeared to trip the youngster deliberately in an off-the-ball incident, causing Fort to fall awkwardly and dislocate his shoulder – an injury that will keep him out for three months.

What’s got Bragarnik’s goat is the financial implications for his club:

• Elche must continue paying Fort’s full wages during his recovery
• The club has lost a valuable player for sporting reasons
• The incident happened outside of normal play
• No retrospective action was taken despite video evidence

Medical confirmation

Medical tests in late December confirmed Fort suffered an anterior dislocation of his left shoulder. The Barcelona-owned player underwent surgery on December 29th, performed by the Catalan club’s medical team.

Fort himself was reportedly shocked when he later saw complete footage of the incident, which wasn’t fully captured during the live broadcast.

This is proper naughty business from the authorities if you ask me. When a player’s out for three months from what looks like a deliberate bit of nastiness, you’d expect the powers that be to have a butcher’s hook at the evidence and take appropriate action. Bragarnik’s absolutely right to be throwing his toys out the pram over this one.