Wolves midfielder Mario Lemina has been relieved of his captaincy following a post-match altercation in the 2-1 defeat to West Ham on Monday night.
The 31-year-old, who joined from OGC Nice in 2023 after a prior Premier League spell with Southampton, was involved in a heated incident with Hammers captain Jarrod Bowen.
What began as a handshake quickly escalated into a physical confrontation, with Lemina attempting to drag Bowen to the ground before being separated.
The altercation didn’t end there. Lemina also pushed Wolves assistant manager Shaun Derry during the chaos, an incident broadcast live on Sky Sports.
In the aftermath, Lemina issued an apology on Instagram, but Wolves boss Gary O’Neil has confirmed that the midfielder will no longer serve as club captain. Right-back Nelson Semedo will now take on the armband.
Gary O’Neil’s Statement
Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of Ipswich Town’s visit to Molineux, O’Neil explained the decision to reassign the captaincy:
“We have a real, large amount of respect for each other,” he said about Lemina.
“But after discussions, we decided to move the captaincy to Nelson. Nelson will captain the group from now on.
“Discussions were good. With these things, sometimes they can be tough to deal with and sometimes you can come out in a really good spot, and I feel like we have.
“I have a lot of respect for Mario and what he’s still going to be able to do for us, as well as what he’s done for us before. When we get the best out of him on the pitch, his level is so high that he’s still going to play a very big part for us, which he’s still extremely keen to do.
“He’ll still be around that group of senior players that leads the team, but at this moment, we feel that it’s best for Nelson to lead the group.”
