If you had to pick the one person in soccer who is most likely to have wear a wire out of paranoia over a referee, you’d pick Jose Mourinho, right?
When it comes to pioneering new ways for top-level soccer to be strange and acrimonious, the Special One never disappoints, and sure enough he was out there reenacting “Donnie Brasco” during Roma’s 1-1 draw with Monza on Wednesday.
“I’m not stupid, you know,” Mourinho — in extremely predictable fashion — said to reporters after the match. “Today, I went to the game with a microphone. I recorded everything. From the moment I left the locker room to the moment I returned. I protected myself.”
Photos of Mourinho from the game bear this out, with the Portuguese manager seen clearly wearing a microphone clipped to the top of the zipper of his hoodie.
According to Mourinho, the rationale for this reasonable and definitely not at all overblown choice was a mistrust of referee Daniele Chiffi, who Mourinho declared “the worst referee I have met in my life.”
Chiffi has officiated 13 Serie A matches this season, and 86 in his career. This year, he experienced some personal firsts, including officiating a UEFA Conference League match and an international friendly between Hungary and Greece.
‘He is the worst’
“Technically he’s horrible. Zero empathy. Zero communication. Zero awareness,” said Mourinho as he railed against the 38-year-old referee, who sent Zeki Çelik off late in stoppage time. “He is the worst.”
“A second yellow to a guy who slips in the 96th minute,” said an exasperated Mourinho. “I stopped [talking to him] 20-30 minutes from the end because I knew he would give me a red card for anything. I didn’t give him the opportunity, I decided no, that’s enough.”
In the least shocking item in this article, this is not Mourinho’s first run-in with Serie A referees since joining Roma. Mourinho was sent off during a shock loss to Cremonese, and was then given a two-game suspension and a fine after storming into the referees’ locker room after the match to continue his arguments.
Among Mourinho’s claims at the time was that referee Marco Serra had a bias towards Juventus, and that he would consider legal action against the fourth official (as of now, that threat has not turned into any sort of lawsuit).
This is also not Mourinho’s first clash with Chiffi. In September, Chiffi sent the veteran manager off during a 1-0 Roma loss to Atalanta. Mourinho ended up having to be restrained before just barely leaving the pitch and setting up shop as close as possible to Roma’s bench.
During the 2022-23 season, Mourinho has not just focused on referees. He’s also gone after children, showing up at an under-14 match to jeer Lazio players. Roma players have also had to deal with his…unique style, with defender Rick Karsdorp accused of being “a traitor” after a draw with Sassuolo.
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