Roma manager Jose Mourinho has spoken up about his treatment at the hands of Italian authorities and claimed that he is living in fear of more bans after being violated by Serie A's decisions
Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho has opened up about life in Italy with Roma and having to face touchline bans for trivial offences, noting that the suspensions are starting to appear more personal.
Mourinho unhappy with Serie A refereeing
Mourinho was banned for ten days and fined £43,000 for an outburst aimed at referee Daniele Chiffi after several decisions went against his side during Roma’s 1-1 draw with Monza in Serie A, and the Gialorossi boss spoke to Corriere dello Sport, calling the incident a violation.
When asked about his recent accumulation of bans, following two domestic and one continental suspensions at the end of the 2022/23 season, Mourinho said, “If we do UEFA here and Italy there, I feel much better when I talk about UEFA and less about Italy.
“In Italy I felt attacked, they violated my freedom as a man, my freedom as a footballer, my freedom not as a great coach, because in these situations there are no big or small coaches, we are all men.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager claimed that the recent incident involving Chiffi and the Serie A had left him uncomfortable and afraid.
“I no longer feel comfortable here. I’m afraid of receiving more bans, I’m afraid of having to go back to hearing everything I’ve heard or read in these two years. If you tell me José, let’s talk about Budapest [UEFA Europa League final], I’m in.”
“But if you ask me to talk about Italy, about political defeats, about the opinions expressed by the people and also about the offences received, it disturbs me. I said fear, perhaps fear is too much, annoyance is better.”
Mourinho feels he was treated unfairly
Mourinho further expounded his feelings of hurt at the hand he was dealt by FIGC and Serie A, noting that other people had gotten away with worse.
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“I think that, at an institutional level, they should have treated me differently, as a man with great international experience, one who coached in England, in Spain,” Mourinho said, continuing, “I said the same things about Chiffi that Modric said about [Daniele] Orsato, exactly the same. I’m in love with Modric, but I don’t agree with him when he says Orsato is a poor referee. Orsato is very good.
“I’ve had my say on Chiffi and you’ve seen the aftermath. Modric spoke after a semifinal of the World Cup and reached billions of people, me at the end of Monza-Roma.
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“Here, the Ballon d’Or winner didn’t suffer bans, I’m in the pillory. If you want, let’s talk about Budapest, which is certainly better.”
Mourinho’s bans mean he will miss Roma’s opening Serie A games of the 2023/24 season against Salernitana and Hellas Verona as well as the Gialorossi’s opening game in the UEFA Europa League.
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