Jose Mourinho: Roma boss given two-match ban after shouting at fourth official, considers legal action

Shortly after half-time with Roma trailing 1-0 to the relegation-threatened club, Mourinho was dismissed by referee Marco Piccinini after the altercation with fourth official Marco Serra.

Mourinho was forced to watch the remainder of the match from the stands at Stadio Giovanni Zini. His displeasure towards the officials continued after the match as he confronted them in the dressing room.

The official Serie A press release said the reason for Mourinho’s two-match ban was: “For having contested a refereeing decision in a forceful and provocative manner in the second minute of the second half and repeating this behaviour at the time of the sending off.

“Furthermore, for entering the referees’ dressing room and addressing the fourth official with offensive expressions and inferences at the end of the match.”

Mourinho will now miss Roma’s next match against Juventus on March 6 and their following league game against Sassuolo on March 12.

Speaking after Roma’s surprise defeat, the former Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid manager hit out at the officials and said he was exploring his options in regards to taking “legal action” against them.

“I am emotional, but not crazy,” he told reporters.

“In order to react the way I did, something had to happen first. I need to understand if I can take any legal action.

“Piccinini gave me a red card because unfortunately, the fourth official does not have the capacity to understand what he said to me. I want to find out if there is an audio recording.”

Mourinho then suggested Serra being from Turin may have played a role in his dismissal ahead of his side’s meeting with Juventus on Sunday.

“I don’t want to get into the fact that Serra is from Turin and on Sunday we are playing against Juventus,” he said.

“For the first time in my career, a fourth official spoke to me in the most incredible way. It was unjustifiable.

“At the end of the game, I went to speak to them. Piccinini, who was the fourth official in the last game when I was sent off, told me to apologise to Serra.

“I told Serra he should have the courage to explain what happened, but he had memory problems.”

Following Roma’s defeat, the Giallorossi sit fifth in the Serie A table and one point off the Champions League places.