KIEV, (Reuters) – Jose Mourinho accused the referee of being “weak and naive” for failing to award Chelsea a penalty in their 0-0 Champions League draw at Dynamo Kiev yesterday.
Mourinho took aim at Slovenian Damir Skomina after he waved play on when Cesc Fabregas was tripped by Serhiy Rybalka in the first half of the Group G stalemate in Kiev.
“The referee was weak and naive with the penalty,” he told BT Sport. “I cannot understand what the official behind the goal does because he doesn’t make a clear decision too.”
The comments appeared to be a thinly-veiled barb at Arsene Wenger and the English Football Association after the Arsenal manager used the exact same phrase to describe referee Mike Dean following Chelsea’s 2-0 win at Stamford Bridge in September.
Wenger escaped punishment for that outburst while Mourinho was last week fined 50,000 pounds ($77,205) and given a one-match suspended stadium ban for saying referees were afraid to give penalties for his team following a defeat by Southampton.
In the wake of his punishment, Mourinho described the FA fine as a “disgrace”, joking that “afraid costs 50,000 pounds. Weak and naive, you can do it.”
Asked by reporters in Kiev if he was afraid of being punished, he joked: “All right, it was not a penalty. I think the referee was very good but made one mistake.
“The referee in the Scotland rugby game was very good but made one mistake and now the whole of Scotland is crying,” Mourinho added, referring to their defeat by Australia in the World Cup on Sunday.
Yesterday’s draw left everything to play for in the group with Porto leading the way on seven points from three games, two clear of Dynamo and three ahead of Chelsea.
Chelsea have the chance to improve their immediate outlook when they host Dynamo in their next outing on Nov. 4.
Kiev coach Serhiy Rebrov, no stranger to English football having played for Tottenham Hotspur, said his hopes of reaching the last 16 have not been dimmed despite drawing their opening home fixtures.
“Home draws against Porto and Chelsea are solid results,” he said. “It is no problem, we will try to collect points in the away games too.
“Our strikers have been silent in the past two games but I hope they will do the talking in the next match.”
