Referee Marco Serra put his hand in his pocket while talking to coach Jose Mourinho.
“When reviewing the slow motion, my client’s body language with his hands in his pockets was ‘inappropriate’. If my client was aware of his behavior at the time, he would have apologized to the AS Roma coach,” said referee Marco Serra’s lawyer, Gabriele Bordoni.
The incident happened during AS Roma’s 1-2 defeat against Cremonese on February 2. Coach Jose Mourinho expressed anger because he felt he was being insulted by the fourth referee. The Portuguese coach shouted at Marco Serra on the touchline and was then shown a red card by referee Marco Piccinini. The Serie A organizers then announced that the Portuguese coach was banned from directing two matches and had to pay a fine of 10,000 euros.
Referee Serra also affirmed that he did not insult coach Jose Mourinho at the hearing at the federal prosecutor’s office. Mr Serra said his words were misunderstood due to the noises on the pitch. Lawyer Gabriele Bordoni said: “Serra said his gestures and words were misunderstood and angered Mourinho. We ask that the matter be closed here and we want to settle it with a handshake between gentlemen.”
Referee Serra told Mediaset about the incident: “I didn’t say anything that would offend Mourinho. I just said, ‘You’re turning the whole stadium against me. Go into your zone'”.
However, Mourinho and some slow-motion mouthpiece readers claimed that Serra said: “They’re all mocking you. Let’s go home.”
After the aforementioned incident, referees Marco Serra and Marco Piccinini, who showed a red card to coach Mourinho, were suspended from duty in the 25th round of Serie A.
Mourinho’s AS Roma is ranked 5th on the Serie A table with 47 points after 26 matches, 1 point behind the 4th ranked team AC Milan.
Nguyen Son | 10:27 March 16, 2023
