Barca lodge complaint over Mourinho rant
Reuters - Friday 29 April 2011, 09:52
MADRID - A row between Barcelona and
Real Madrid which erupted after Wednesday's Champions League
semi-final first leg escalated on Thursday when the pair filed
complaints with UEFA.
Barcelona, who won 2-0 in an ill-tempered match at the
Bernabeu, struck first when they announced they would formally
denounce comments Real coach Jose Mourinho made belittling Pep
Guardiola's past achievements.
Real responded by saying they would file their own complaint
with European soccer governing body about what they called
repeated diving by some of the Barca players.
For their part, UEFA announced disciplinary probes into the
Mourinho sending-off and subsequent outburst at his post-match
news conference.
Real midfielder Pepe and Barca reserve goalkeeper Jose
Manuel Pinto will also face hearings after being shown red
cards, while nine-times European champions Real will have to
explain incidents of missile-throwing and a pitch invasion.
"We want to stand firm when the war of words passes certain
limits and we believe Mr Mourinho crossed this line yesterday,"
Barca spokesman Toni Freixa told reporters after an
extraordinary club board meeting.
"We are going to present a case to UEFA's Control and
Disciplinary committee against Mr Mourinho for breaking UEFA's
disciplinary code.
"It's unacceptable that anyone can question our titles or
our link with UNICEF.
"It isn't our intention to fans the flames but to put them
out, because we believe coaches should only talk about
footballing matters and not things which could incite violence."
MESSI DOUBLE
In a statement on their website later
on Thursday, Real said they had no choice but to respond with a
representation of their own to UEFA and expressed their backing
for Mourinho.
Barca had shown "non-sporting conduct" and their players had
"persistently simulated aggression against them with the sole
aim of provoking errors from the referee", the statement said,
adding that Pepe's dismissal had been unfair.
The club said they were surprised disciplinary proceedings
had been opened against Mourinho, who had only expressed his
opposition to winning at all costs and his support for the
principles of "loyalty, integrity and sporting spirit".
Barca's World Player of the Year Lionel Messi scored two
superb goals after Pepe was sent off for a studs-up lunge at
Barcelona's Daniel Alves in the 62nd minute. Mourinho was
ordered from the bench for his protests over the incident.
After the match, Mourinho told reporters: "Josep Guardiola
is a fantastic football coach, but he has won one Champions
League which would embarrass me after the scandalous goings on
at Stamford Bridge."
The Portugese was referring to the 2009 semi-final second
leg in London when Barca snatched a 1-1 draw to qualify for the
final. He said Chelsea should have had four penalties that were
not given.
"This year if he wins it again it will be after the
scandalous goings on at the Bernabeu," he added.
"I don't know if it's the UNICEF publicity or the friendship
of Villar at UEFA, where he is vice-president, I don't know if
it's because they are so nice, but they have got great power.
The rest of us have no chance."
Barca backed the re-election of Angel Maria Villar to the
presidency of the Spanish soccer federation (RFEF), while Real
supported a rival candidate.
BARCA WARNING
Barcelona vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu warned on
Tuesday that the club were not going to stand for any more
attempts to smear their record by Real or local media, backing
Guardiola's surprising outburst from earlier in the day.
"All year there have been insinuations, lies, information
which wasn't true about referees, the calendar and recently
doping. It's enough," he told Spanish radio.
"When our footballers were linked to doping a few weeks ago
we took out a lawsuit against the radio station. Today Guardiola
also said 'enough'. We have to get away from these
extra-sporting issues and back to the competition and playing."
Mourinho has already been in trouble with UEFA this season,
serving a one-match ban over allegations that two of his Real
Madrid players engineered deliberate red cards in a group game
with Ajax Amsterdam.
At the time, Mourinho brushed aside UEFA's punishment,
describing it as "a medal".
Real and Barca were widely criticised for their behaviour in
Wednesday's match which featured constant niggling, play-acting
and harassment of the referee by both sides.
UEFA said the hearings would take place on 6 May.