http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/050319/2/9sai.html
Arrogant maybe but Mourinho is no enemy of soccer
Sat 19 Mar, 2:50 AM
LONDON (Reuters) - Jose Mourinho could start an argument with himself in an emp
ty house but that does not make him an "enemy of football", as one UEFA officia
l labelled him.
There is little doubt the Portuguese coach of English champions-elect Chelsea h
as been acting provocatively in the last few weeks and he is now facing the con
sequences.
He has been fined by the Football Association for comments he made after Januar
y's stormy League Cup semi-final against Manchester United.
He was charged after accusing United's players of diving during the first leg.
Mourinho also implied United boss Alex Ferguson had tried to influence the refe
ree at halftime.
"It was whistle and whistle, fault and fault, cheat and cheat," he said. The FA
fined him 5,000 pounds for those pearls of wisdom.
He was also ordered to leave the technical area during the League Cup final aga
inst Liverpool and has been in trouble with European soccer's governing body UE
FA after accusing Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard of trying to influence referee
Anders Frisk at halftime in the first leg of their Champions League match.
UEFA have also begun disciplinary proceedings after Mourinho's players were lat
e for the second half of that match and the coach snubbed the post-match news c
onference.
DEATH THREATS
UEFA's Control and Disciplinary body will meet on March 24 to examine the case.
The fallout from that night in Barcelona has cost football the services of one
of its leading referees. Frisk has quit the game after receiving death threats
following his handling of the first leg.
That in turn sparked Volker Roth, the head of UEFA's referees' committee into a
ction. Roth claimed Mourinho was "an enemy of football".
Mourinho can be accused of being brash and arrogant, yet he has been a breath o
f fresh air to the English game and has moulded the "galacticos" of Chelsea int
o potential European and English champions.
He is by no means the first manager to use provocative comments to put psycholo
gical pressure on opponents or referees.
Managers like the peerless Alex Ferguson have taken the pressure off their team
and tried to put it on the opposition when they were behind in the title race,
or in the middle of a playing slump, by talking tough.
Mourinho, however, chose to whip up everyone when his team were flying high at
the top of the league and after coming away from Barcelona with a creditable 2-
1 first leg defeat in a tie they went on to win 5-4 on aggregate.
He might well have influenced UEFA's choice of Pierluigi Collina as referee for
the second leg, though UEFA deny that.
Then again UEFA have denied quite a lot this week.
UEFA's chief executive Lars-Christer Olsson claimed on Thursday that Roth never
called Mourinho an enemy of football, saying his words had been mis-translated
.
CHANGED POSITION
William Gaillard, UEFA's director of communications was clearly ordered to move
one way, then another, in comments on and off the record about Mourinho and th
e Barcelona affair.
He, of course, is only the spokesman for his masters so UEFA's stance was in di
rect contrast on Thursday to their position last week.
Last week Gaillard said that Mourinho should not criticise officials and get on
with playing the game. This week he backtracked and said Mourinho's comments c
ould not be directly linked to Frisk's decision to quit.
Football and its many arguments move on quickly, especially for teams aiming fo
r domestic and European silverware like Chelsea.
The game's authorities are right to try and ensure that respect for officials a
nd a sporting attitude in general remains the dominant discourse in the sport.
But it would be sad if football's current zeal for fining players and managers
for their public statements leads to even fewer people in the game being willin
g to speak their minds and move beyond the usual platitudes and cliches.
As this episode shows, even UEFA officials can sometimes say things they later
regret.
Mourinho might need a reminder now and then to keep his cool but he is no "enem
y of football".
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