ALFREDO Morelos is the victim in “translategate” and Rangers should be demanding answers, according to Barry Ferguson.
Writing in his column for the Daily Record, the former Ibrox captain – who has previously been critical of Morelos – said that “for once” the Rangers striker was let down by others.
Ferguson also said that manager Steven Gerrard should be demanding answers.
The 23-year-old Colombian international gave his first UK interview to Sky Sports on Monday.
It came amid a tumultuous couple of weeks for Morelos, who was subject to a number of newspapers reports and speculation after a man was found suspiciously near his car.
The Sky interview came the day after the Sunday Mail reported that, contrary to speculation Morelos’s brakes had been tampered with, the man was a private investigator hired by the Colombian’s wife.
It then transpired that the translation Sky Sports interview, in which it was initially reported he had accused the Celtic fans of racism, was not accurate, forcing the broadcaster into deleting the interview and apologising.
Celtic, who released a statement questioning the translation before the interview was taken down, have since reported Sky to broadcast regulator Ofcom.
Ferguson said Morelos was a “completely innocent victim” in translategate.
He said: “It all stems from the exclusive interview he gave Sky Sports which I found the timing of quite strange in the first place. What has since transpired is a total mess … [and] didn’t bear any resemblance to what he actually said.
“The broadcaster invests plenty of money in the Scottish game and have been big enough to hold their hands up and apologise for the furore which takes b***s.
“But questions remain unanswered and I’m sure that is where, privately at least, Steven Gerrard will be demanding some answers. You would have thought Sky Sports would have insisted on their own interpreter and that is what they will probably do in the future.”
Ferguson added that Morelos’s claims he has been racially abused in Scotland has been forgotten in everything that has happened.
The former Ibrox favourite, now manager of Kelty Hearts, went on to say that even though Gerarrd’s main concern is the football side of things, he will be concerned about off-the-field event as affecting Morelos in any way.
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