Swedish ref slammed by Jose Mourinho
Referee Jonas Eriksson was blamed by the Chelsea manager for 'killing the game' and costing his side the Uefa Super Cup final against Bayern Munich after reducing his Blues team to ten men in a match they subsequently lost on penalties.
Jose Mourinho hit out at the Swedish match official for dismissing midfielder Ramires in the 85th minute for a second yellow card.
"There is a passion for football and if you are in love with the game, you don't kill a final with a second yellow card like this," Mourinho told reporters after the match in Prague.
"For me, yes, (the player should not have been punished) because there were many other yellow cards during the match which the referee didn't give.
"A good English referee would have stopped the game and told Ramires: 'Look, you've not hurt anyone but you mustn't do that again.' Or tell the Bayern players: 'Don't dive. Don't try and provoke. Play a fair game.'
"If you ask me in pure terms, rule by rule, yes it was a second yellow card. But you don't do this every action in that way. But it's nothing new for me."
When asked if he could see why Eriksson sent off his player the Portuguese coach added; "I'd prefer to say no, even if you say yes.
"Rules are rules but there is a very important rule which is common sense," said the returning Chelsea boss.
Eriksson, who is from Luleå in northern Sweden, led an all Swedish team of officials for the showpiece match between the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League. He flashed 10 yellow cards, eight for Chelsea and two for Bayern, along with the red for Ramires in a hotly contested game.
The 39-year old became a professional referee in 1994 and has taken charge of over 200 Allsvenskan games since 2000 in addition to almost 100 international matches.
It's not the first time Mourinho has become embroiled in a row with a Swedish referee. Back in 2005 he accused Anders Frisk of having a private meeting with Barcelona's then coach Frank Rijkaard at half-time of a match against his Chelsea team.
The Swede denied the allegation saying he only spoke briefly with Rijkaard in the tunnel telling him it wasn't appropriate to talk about the match at that time.
Frisk, from Gothenburg, was subjected to death threats and quit refereeing as a result of the incident. Mourinho was subsequently branded an "enemy of football" by Uefa referee committee chairman Volker Roth.
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Jose Mourinho hit out at the Swedish match official for dismissing midfielder Ramires in the 85th minute for a second yellow card.
"There is a passion for football and if you are in love with the game, you don't kill a final with a second yellow card like this," Mourinho told reporters after the match in Prague.
"For me, yes, (the player should not have been punished) because there were many other yellow cards during the match which the referee didn't give.
"A good English referee would have stopped the game and told Ramires: 'Look, you've not hurt anyone but you mustn't do that again.' Or tell the Bayern players: 'Don't dive. Don't try and provoke. Play a fair game.'
"If you ask me in pure terms, rule by rule, yes it was a second yellow card. But you don't do this every action in that way. But it's nothing new for me."
When asked if he could see why Eriksson sent off his player the Portuguese coach added; "I'd prefer to say no, even if you say yes.
"Rules are rules but there is a very important rule which is common sense," said the returning Chelsea boss.
Eriksson, who is from Luleå in northern Sweden, led an all Swedish team of officials for the showpiece match between the winners of the Champions League and the Europa League. He flashed 10 yellow cards, eight for Chelsea and two for Bayern, along with the red for Ramires in a hotly contested game.
The 39-year old became a professional referee in 1994 and has taken charge of over 200 Allsvenskan games since 2000 in addition to almost 100 international matches.
It's not the first time Mourinho has become embroiled in a row with a Swedish referee. Back in 2005 he accused Anders Frisk of having a private meeting with Barcelona's then coach Frank Rijkaard at half-time of a match against his Chelsea team.
The Swede denied the allegation saying he only spoke briefly with Rijkaard in the tunnel telling him it wasn't appropriate to talk about the match at that time.
Frisk, from Gothenburg, was subjected to death threats and quit refereeing as a result of the incident. Mourinho was subsequently branded an "enemy of football" by Uefa referee committee chairman Volker Roth.
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