Diouf blames fans for spit spat

El Hadji Diouf claims his confrontation with Celtic supporters would have ended in a brawl had it happened in the street rather than a football stadium.

Diouf spat at Celtic fans during Liverpool's Uefa Cup tie at Parkhead on March 13 when he claims he was manhandled after tumbling over advertising hoardings.

Diouf was handed a two-match European ban by Uefa and fined by his club, but is still waiting to hear whether he will face criminal charges from Scotland's procurator fiscal over the incident.

But Senegal's Sud Quotidien newspaper quotes Djouf as saying: "I felt threatened and so I spat at the person who was threatening me.

"One thing that's for sure is that if we'd been away from a football ground he wouldn't have dared behave like he did.

"If he'd insulted me like that in the street I would have laid into him, but in the context in which the incident took place, there was nothing I could do.

"Spitting was the only way I could defend myself."