Koukash refuses to back down in ‘bottlegate’ row

Salford owner Marwan Koukash has refused to back down in his row with Warrington and the RFL over an alleged bottle throwing incident.

The incident, which Koukash claims involved a Wolves player throw a bottle into a crowd of Salford fans while celebrating a try, happened during the second half of the Reds’ trip to Warrington. 

And despite Rugby League match commissioner Ian McGregor dismissing the Salford owner’s claims, Koukash is standing firm and his promised to take action.

He said: “We will take this further.

“We don’t want to see things like this in our lovely sport.

“In the second half I was sat in the stand with Brian Noble, discussing things with him.

“I turned round and saw half a dozen to a dozen supporters who seemed angry and being confronted by stewards.

“That’s when I decided to walk back to the terraces because I had also stood with the fans during the first-half.

“The story they told me was that a Warrington player threw a bottle at them.

“The person who told me that and who was supported by a number of our fans is someone I know very well.

“He is someone who walks around with a walking stick and who was visibly upset about what had happened.

“At the time the stewards confirmed to me that a Warrington player threw a bottle at the fans. So, I demanded to speak to the head steward.

“The head steward came over and I did hand over the bottle to him. He told me he was going to report it to Ian McGregor.

“I have what Ian has said but I am disappointed he didn’t come to see me.

“I made myself available for him to speak to me so we could put our side of the story.”

Salford face a crunch home tie with Wakefield on Monday as they look to recover from a 68-10 thrashing at the hands of Warrington.