ACTUALITE |
08.03.2005
Mourinho Criticises Uefa Over Collina Comments
goal.com
Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has criticised Uefa after the European governing body accused him of trying to influence its choice of referee for the Blues’ Champions League tie against Barcelona on Tuesday.
Mourinho was alleged to have said he ‘knew’ Pierluigi Collina would be handed the second leg tie, prompting a Uefa spokesman to tell him: ‘stay out of our business.’
But Mourinho has responded, saying: "It is a shame that an institution the size and importance of Uefa has misinterpreted what I said.
"I didn’t ask for Collina to referee. What they said was completely untrue."
Uefa director of communications William Gaillard had earlier taken a swipe at Mourinho, who he claimed had made their choice of referee for the Stamford Bridge showdown more difficult.
"We didn’t really appreciate Jose Mourinho saying at the beginning of the week that we had assured Chelsea that Collina would be refereeing the game. It is not true," said Gaillard.
"He was trying to put pressure on us. We had decided to appoint Pierluigi Collina even before we considered the incidents, but his comments made it very difficult for us to do so.
"He should stop picking out which referees he likes and which he doesn’t like."
Mourinho also responded to suggestions from Barca players that Chelsea are a negative team, and revealed why he had not spoken to the media after their 2-1 defeat at Camp Nou in the first leg.
"We took the decision not to speak out of due respect to the media because of what we felt happened [with Frank Rijkaard and referee Anders Frisk] at half-time.
"Because the process was continuing we felt it was fair not to speak and we needed to let Uefa get on with sorting it out.
"But I don’t think there is any ill feeling between the two teams. They want to reach the quarter-finals and we’re the same.
"The key is to play better than them this time, because in the first leg they played better - we must try and reach the level we normally play at this time."
|
|
Hits: 1 | Source:Autres | |
|
|
|
|
| |