Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho faces a Uefa hearing on Thursday for bringing the game into ”disrepute” and ”making false declarations”.
If he is found guilty, Mourinho could face penalties ranging from a fine to a match ban, or even see Chelsea expelled from Europe’s richest club tournament, the Champions League. Uefa is expected to rule later on Thursday.
In a written statement, Mourinho said he said saw FC Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard enter the referee’s dressing room to talk with referee Anders Frisk at half-time of the February 23 Champions League game at Barcelona.
Mourinho said the alleged meeting affected the outcome of the game and called the result ”adulterated”.
Barcelona won 2-1, scoring twice after Chelsea striker Didier Drogba was sent off on a red card in the 55th minute. Chelsea won the return leg in London, 4-2, to advance to the Champions League quarterfinals.
A few days later, Frisk retired abruptly after officiating 118 international games. One of the world’s top referees, he said he had received death threats — mostly from English fans — and feared for his family’s safety.
Uefa officials are essentially calling Mourinho a liar.
”By further disseminating these wrong and unfounded statements, Chelsea FC allowed its technical staff to deliberately create a poisoned and negative ambiance amongst the teams and to put pressure on the refereeing officials,” Uefa said in charging Mourinho earlier this month.
Mourinho was fined £5 000 earlier this season by the English Football Association for making similar charges against Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and English referee Neale Barry.
Mourinho was not expected to attend on Thursday.
Mourinho backed away from his original statement this week, saying he did not see Rijkaard enter the dressing room, but was relying on accounts from assistant coach Steve Clarke and security official Les Miles.
They face similar charges from Uefa. Mourinho faces two other minor charges: returning his team late for the second half and skipping a mandatory post-match news conference.
”If something happened in the football stadium and I don’t see it, and if some people arrive and say to me, ‘I saw this, this happened,’ and if another one comes and says ‘I saw the same,’ then I have to say it is true,” Mourinho said on Monday in Tel Aviv, Israel.
”Because I’m loyal to my people and because I believe in what my people say to me, I am involved in something I don’t want. But I cannot run away from it because I always trust my people.”
Chelsea officials say Uefa has undermined the club’s integrity and are threatening to take the case to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport if they are unhappy with the verdict.
”Our witnesses have been branded as liars without any opportunity to be heard or defend themselves,” Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said in a statement. — Sapa-AP