AS Roma head coach Jose Mourinho has, on Friday, been slapped with a charge on the part of UEFA.
This comes owing to the Portuguese’s comments on the back of his side’s defeat in the final of the Europa League.
En route to an eventual penalty shootout downing at the hands of competition specialists Sevilla, Mourinho was not at all shy in making his grievances with the standard of officiating very much known.
Referee Anthony Taylor was singled out for particularly harsh criticism by Roma’s boss, after the Englishman dished out a tournament record 14 yellow cards.
In fact, post-match, footage came to the fore on social media of Mourinho embarking on an explicit rant against Taylor:
Jose Mourinho waited outside to call Anthony Taylor a ‘f*cking crook’ 😳 pic.twitter.com/0BrQfTZL9x
— GOAL (@goal) June 1, 2023
The Giallorossi headmaster’s rant carried into his post-match press conference, too, with Mourinho having gone as far as to accuse Taylor of ‘seeming Spanish’:
“It was an intense, vibrant game with a referee who seemed Spanish. It was yellow, yellow, yellow all the time.”
And, as alluded to above, on Friday, such transgressions have landed the veteran tactician in hot water.
As part of disciplinary proceedings following Wednesday’s clash, UEFA, European football’s governing body, have charged Mourinho with the use of ‘insulting/abusive language against a match official’.
In an ensuing statement, UEFA also condemned the actions of Roma’s supporters, after further footage did the rounds of Anthony Taylor being harassed by the Giallorossi faithful at Budapest Airport:
“UEFA vehemently condemns violent behaviour directed towards its referee Anthony Taylor and his family. Such actions are unacceptable and undermine the spirit of fair play and respect that UEFA upholds.”
Referee Anthony Taylor, getting attacked at the airport by Roma fans.
This is absolutely disgusting to see, wow! pic.twitter.com/q9g23LrBu3
— Football Away Days (@FBAwayDays) June 1, 2023
“UEFA maintains a close collaboration with local police and airport security starting from the referees’ arrival in host cities.
“However, we are constantly striving to enhance the security measures for officials in coordination with local authorities. We will carefully assess the incidents and incorporate valuable insights into our future event planning processes.”
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