‘It’s just a fake, bad guy who needs to be banned’


Friday, June 2, 2023 at 7:36 PM• Sam Fearwijk

Wim Kieft has in his column in The Telegraph not a good word about the behavior of AS Roma coach José Mourinho during and after the lost Europa League final against Sevilla (1-1, 4-1 ns). The Portuguese, who several times during the match did not agree with the arbitral decisions, visited referee Anthony Taylor after the game in a parking garage of the Puskás Aréna and went completely crazy against him.

“During the match, the English referee for 120 minutes and extra time was the target of criticism, intimidation and melodramatic play from him, his assistants and his players,” Kieft looks back on Friday. “Once lost, he was the last Roman to refuse to pick up his medal, but walked to the table before the award ceremony to score the jewel. Just because he didn’t want to be seen or associated with the losers, with his own players and staff. He then threw that medal into the audience. He then waited in the catacombs for referee Antony Taylor to go all out on the Englishman.”

A day later, footage surfaced of Roma fans attacking Taylor at the airport in front of his family. According to Kieft, that was the result of Mourinho’s behavior. “The fear could be read on the faces, there were blows, chairs went through the air and it was Mourinho who was allowed to feel partly responsible for that. He is an example to Roma fans, but instead of keeping his decency, he turned them against Taylor.”

The former footballer is therefore calling for a harsh punishment by UEFA. “If the European Football Association takes all its own slogans of respect seriously. They have to suspend him for months because this behavior of the Portuguese goes beyond all limits. For the same money, something much worse could happen to Taylor or his family. Mourinho is just a fake bad guy who deserves to be banned from football for a while. Although you hear that he may exchange AS Roma for Paris Saint-Germain in the summer. At the same time, that says everything about that club, that they want to work with a person like Mourinho.”