Jose Mourinho should be suspended from coaching and Roma barred from European competitions following the "disgraceful" harassment of Anthony Taylor after Wednesday's Europa League final.
That is the view of Martin Cassidy, chief executive of Ref Support UK – a charity committed to supporting officials – after Taylor was abused following Roma's penalty shoot-out defeat to Sevilla.
Roma boss Mourinho was fiercely critical of Taylor's performance as Sevilla won a record-extending seventh Europa League title via spot-kicks following an ill-tempered 1-1 draw in Budapest.
Thirteen players were booked during the match, while Gonzalo Montiel scored his winning penalty at the second attempt after Rui Patricio was punished for encroachment after initially saving his kick.
Mourinho was seen shouting expletives at Taylor after the game, and the English official was harassed by Giallorossi supporters when at Budapest Airport with his family.
Speaking to Stats Perform, Cassidy outlined the strong punishments he would like to see issued to coaches who abuse officials.
"I'd be interested to speak to the legal people in UEFA and FIFA, to see if they could take their coaching badges away from them," Cassidy said.
"Take it away from them. Say, 'I'm sorry, we are going to suspend your badge, you can't coach at that level'. Let's see what that does.
"Obviously, big legal challenges will come that way. But let's have things in place to say, 'Look, a stadium ban is not working on you and one or two fines when you are a multimillionaire are not going to bother you'.
"Let's really hurt you, let's take you away from being able to coach, let's suspend your coaching badge. Job done."
Cassidy believes Mourinho's behaviour is being replicated by grassroots coaches, and says his club should be barred from Europe or handed a points deduction for next season.
"It's just disgraceful," he added. "How many chances does this man [Mourinho] want before some national governing body or UEFA or FIFA take appropriate action against him?
"This behaviour he shows manifests itself at grassroots level when there's a youth referee in the middle, and little mini-Mourinhos are on the sidelines repeating and replicating those antics.
"It's not good at all. And I just think, the managers – it's not just Jose Mourinho – other people do it and have been doing for a long time… they throw in a small fine, it might be £100 or £1,000.
"That's a small fine for some of these people, for some of them it is not even a week's wages. They throw in a ban, well, Jose Mourinho has been banned before from stadiums and still found a way of doing his coaching.
"What are UEFA going to do? I think don't allow them to play in Europe next year.
"If they do allow them to play in Europe, let's have them on a minus points deficit of say three or four points, let's just have a message that is different to what we've been doing previously."
JFF identifies potential candidates for Reggae Girlz head coach position; will begin interview process this week
The Jamaica Football Federation has reportedly identified potential candidates to fill the head coaching vacancy with the Senior Women’s National Team.
The position was opened after the JFF decided not to renew the contract of former head coach, Lorne Donaldson, after the team lost a pair of Olympic Qualifying fixtures to Canada in September.
“The interviewing process will begin this week, as we have received a number of applications from experienced and qualified individuals. Soon, a short list will be selected for final interviews. Importantly, this also includes the reengagement of members of the coaching and technical staff,” a post on the federation’s Instagram page stated on Monday.
“The JFF is committed to ensuring that the women’s program is given the best opportunity to succeed and continue the significant accomplishments that have brought much pride to Jamaica,” the statement continued.
Donaldson was appointed Reggae Girlz head coach in June 2022 and led the national women’s team to their second consecutive qualification for the FIFA Women’s World Cup. At the World Cup, he took Jamaica to a historic round of 16 after drawing with France and Brazil and defeating Panama in the group stage.
Jamie Carragher says VAR at a ‘crisis point’ after Liverpool offside controversy
VAR is now at a “crisis point”, according to pundit and former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher.
Liverpool had a Luis Diaz goal incorrectly ruled out for offside during Saturday’s Premier League defeat at Tottenham due to miscommunication between VAR Darren England and on-field referee Simon Hooper.
The match was goalless at the time of the incident, with the Reds – who were eventually reduced to nine men – going on to lose 2-1 to an own goal from Joel Matip deep into stoppage time.
Liverpool issued a statement on Sunday night saying they would “explore the range of options available given the clear need for escalation and resolution”.
The PA news agency understands the Reds have now formally requested the audio of the conversation between the two from referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL).
Former Liverpool and England defender Carragher was analysing the incident ahead of Monday night’s live Premier League game between Fulham and Chelsea at Craven Cottage.
The Sky Sports pundit believes the whole system is now under more pressure than ever.
“I don’t think the feeling around VAR has ever been lower – I do feel as if this is almost like a crisis point for VAR in this country,” Carragher said on Sky Sports.
“It is not just on the back of this decision, it is what has been happening all season, like when there was a situation with Wolves against Manchester United (in the first Monday night televised match of the new season).
“I don’t want to pile on to an official or (PGMOL chief refereeing officer) Howard Webb, I could imagine they feel absolutely awful (over) the last couple of days.
“I am not into the conspiracy theories, that this one favours that team or another – no-one gains anything from this in terms of the officials.
“We have all been there in our jobs and made mistakes, so I feel for them – but it is an horrendous mistake, that is unprecedented and you can’t actually quite believe the explanation that has been given.”
PGMOL issued a statement on Saturday night acknowledging a “significant error” had occurred. Hooper and his assistants had given offside against Diaz on the field, and PA understands that although England followed the correct procedure in drawing lines, he lost focus and mistakenly thought the initial on-field decision had been onside.
This resulted in him issuing a ‘check complete’ notice to Hooper, rather than advising of an intervention and the goal being awarded.
Once the officials realised an error had been made, play had restarted and VAR protocols state that once that has happened, there is no way back to revisit a decision.
Carragher, though, believes the incident could have been quickly resolved at the time.
“They were saying they were staying with protocol about not allowing to stop the game. I don’t believe that. They panicked. They froze,” he said.
“I know that’s the rule, but that’s a red-tape rule. If they had reversed it, we’d have been praising their leadership.
“There’s talk that the officials didn’t know until half-time that a mistake had been made, when that ball goes out of play [after the incident] the look on that referee’s face, it’s a look of something has gone wrong.
“I think it’s unbelievable that all the parties involved haven’t released the audio. I find it unfathomable.
“The only way Howard Webb and PGMOL will gain any sort of credibility back was to get it out there.
“The problem they have now is the explanation is so random and bizarre, the longer this goes on, the more people will think they’re trying to put a story together.”
Arsenal suffer travel delays ahead of Champions League tie in Lens
Arsenal’s preparations for their first away Champions League game in six-and-a-half years were thrown into chaos due to travel delays.
Mikel Arteta’s side face Lens in their Group B clash at the Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Tuesday night but had to cancel their pre-match press conference on the eve of the game.
The Arsenal boss was due to speak to the media with France defender William Saliba at 1900 local time but their chartered flight was grounded at Luton airport.
The Gunners had trained at London Colney at 1130BST before being due to travel to France on Monday afternoon but bad weather saw those plans cancelled.
The PA news agency understands Arsenal will not face a fine as the cancellation was out of their control – with the squad waiting over three hours at Luton before being able to make the short hop over the channel.
Among the travelling party stuck at Luton were Bukayo Saka – who was passed fit to travel despite limping off injured at Bournemouth on Saturday – and fit-again midfielder Thomas Partey.
Partey had been sidelined since August with a groin injury and the club hoped to have him back for the visit of Manchester City on Sunday.
“He’s progressed really well in the last two weeks and he managed to train in the last two or three days with the team and that’s great news for us, obviously,” Arteta said of the Ghana international.
“I think his progression in the last week has been very good. He might have some exposure tomorrow depending how the game goes.”
Both Arteta and Saliba later spoke to a small number of reporters over the phone and the latter insisted everything would be fine heading into the game.
Asked if he was confident the team would still be at their best, he replied: “Yes, of course. We have to arrive first but tomorrow is another day and we will give our best against Lens.
“It is a really good feeling. My second game in the Champions League with Arsenal. I can’t wait to play in France so it is a good feeling.
“We know it won’t be an easy game. It is a really good team who finished second last season.
“They didn’t start well but in the last two or three games, they are better so we have to be focused on tomorrow and give our best.”
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