Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has chosen not to limit his criticism of referees to just those employed by the Football Association and has launched a tired against Damir Skomina, the referee for his side’s Champion’s League match against Dynamo Kiev.
The Blues boss was incensed that his side was not awarded a penalty in their away encounter against the Ukrainian team and compared the referee to the South African Craig Joubert. Joubert was widely criticised for his decision to award Australia a penalty late in their game against Scotland during the rugby World Cup.
Mourinho said, “The referee was very good. I’m serious. He made one mistake and, for example in the Rugby World Cup, the referee in the Scotland game was very good. But he made one mistake and because of that mistake Scotland is crying”. World Rugby has confirmed that Joubert was wrong to award Australia a 78th minute penalty that sent Scotland crashing out of the World Cup, so Mourinho’s comments were clearly laced with irony.
The moment the Chelsea manager was refereeing to was when Cesc Fabregas fell down under a challenge from Dynamo Kiev’s Serhiy Rybalka. Damir Skomina waved away their appeals, an act Mourinho felt was wrong. He said, “The decision was crucial for the outcome. A fall in the box is a penalty”.
The self proclaimed ‘Special One’ also mirrored the language of Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger in his post match comments. Mourinho was incensed when the Football Association punished him for claiming that referees were ‘afraid’ to give Chelsea penalties in the aftermath of their match against Southampton, feeling that his comments suggested bias on the part of the referee. They did not punish Arsene Wenger, however, when the Arsenal manager called Mike Dean ‘weak’ and ‘naive’ when he fell of Diego Costa’s tricks during a fiery London derby.
Mourinho questioned the size of his fine and the suspended one match bad the FA levied on him and made reference to the Arsenal manager’s comments saying, “Afraid costs £50,000. Weak and naive – you can do it”. He then repeated the phrase after the Champion’s League match, saying, “The referee was weak and naive. Big penalty”.
Chelsea had the better chances during the match in Ukraine, hitting the post through Eden Hazard and seeing the ball strike the crossbar after a Willian free kick. They couldn’t find the crucial break through, though, and have now won just one of their past five games in all competitions.
Mourinho remains upbeat, however, and said after the match, “For 70, 75 minutes, we had the control, the initiative, the chances. We hit the post, we had the penalty [turned down]. We had everything but we didn’t score. The result is acceptable because it keeps us in a strong position. We have the game at home. Dynamo plays against Porto so they have to lose points. We are third but we are in a stable position”.
Chelsea sit in third place in Group G of the Champion’s League, having won one, lost one and drawn one of their first three games. They have four points compared to Dynamo Kiev’s five and group leader FC Porto’s seven, but they still have to play Kiev at home and Maccabi Tel Aviv have yet to earn a single point.