Rangers striker Nacho Novo faces a police inquiry over claims he dropped his shorts to “moon” officers after yesterday’s defeat to Aberdeen.
The 30-year-old Spaniard provoked the wrath of rival fans when he appeared to make the rude gesture at police who hampered his efforts to greet away fans at the end of the game.
Eyewitnesses said he was trying to throw his top into the Rangers supporters’ stand when a line of police blocked his way.
Though the pitch-side officers eventually parted and allowed him through, he is said to have slipped down the back of his shorts to expose his buttocks to them as he walked back towards the tunnel.
Police were then seen to confer with one another before a group of Aberdeen fans clamoured for their attention and expressed their anger at the incident.
A spokesman for Grampian Police later confirmed that officers at the match had reported the incident, and that they would be investigating.
“As is procedure, both clubs will be contacted and appropriate action will be taken,” the spokesman said.
If Novo is charged, it will be for breach of the peace, but the Scottish Football Association or Rangers may also decide to take matters into their own hands.
Rangers were unavailable for comment last night, but a spokesman said earlier that he was unaware of any issues at the game.
One Aberdeen fan who attended the match said it was important that the same standards were applied to players on the pitch as they would be to reveller on a night out.
“If that had happened in a city centre, he would have got arrested right away,” he said.
Another described the alleged gesture as “inappropriate”, pointing out that there were hundreds of families with young children at Pittodrie for the game.
A visiting Rangers fan, however, suggested that the situation had been blown out of proportion by rival fans.
He said: “It was a joking gesture, very innocuous, but the Dons fans were intent on getting him into trouble.”
Novo, who joined the Ibrox club from Dundee in 2004, has generally been used by Rangers as a substitute.
When he was brought on during this year’s Scottish Cup Final, however, he scored the winning goal after just 28 seconds on the field.
If action is taken against him by his club or the SFA over the incident at yesterday’s game, it could involve a fine or even a suspension.
Probably the most famous “mooning” incident in British football occurred in the 1979 FA Cup semi-final, when Arsenal’s Sammy Nelson exposed himself to Coventry fans. He was given a two-match ban for the stunt.
More recently, Newcastle United player Joey Barton, then playing for Manchester City, was fined £2000 by the FA for bringing the game into disrepute when he “mooned” rival fans during a game in 2006.
Though Merseyside Police investigated the 2006 incident, which was captured by TV cameras, they did not bring any charges.
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