Mourinho Will Miss Stoke Clash As He Refuses To Appeal Stadium Ban
Jose Mourinho has not appealed his Football Association stadium ban and will be forced to watch Chelsea's crucial clash with Stoke City away from the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho has not appealed his Football Association stadium ban and will be forced to watch Chelsea's crucial clash with Stoke City away from the Britannia Stadium on Saturday.
The Portuguese coach had until midday on Friday to lodge an appeal to defer his one-match ban but will now leave his backroom staff to run the show from the sideline in Saturday's 5.30pm kick-off.
Mourinho, who will also have to pay a £40,000 fine, says he will not communicate with his team but confirmed the tactical decisions taken mid-game will be decided in pre-match planning meetings.
Mourinho will be absent for Saturday's clash after being slapped with a one-match stadium ban by the FA
When asked about his decision not to appeal the ban in his Friday press conference, Mourinho made it clear that he thought his prospects of having a successful case were slim.
'The match is tomorrow,' he said. 'I know the result of the appeal already, so I decide to give up.
'I think it's stupid to fight a fight you know you already lose.'
The Portuguese coach will travel with his squad up until the point he is told he can go no further ahead of Saturday's game.
He will watch the clash from the team hotel but could use his mobile phone to contact his coaches on the bench, although he says that will not be the case.
Assistants Rui Faria, Steve Holland and Silvino Louro will be briefed on every possible scenario that Mourinho envisages.
The under-fire manager went on to hint that the decision to hand him a stadium ban could set a precedent with more to follow for bosses who fall out of line in future.
Chelsea boss oversaw his side's win over Dynamo Kiev but will watch the Stoke game away from the ground
'One thing is not to be on the bench. I'm stopped being in a football stadium. I'm stopped being in what I love so much which is football,' he said.
'When I go into the punishment, it opens a range of options. I imagine there will be lots of managers with stadium bans in the future. Bans should be something really serious in terms of aggression, using words I don't want to use. This one is about words, about campaigns.
'It could happen a lot more. Unless we have our association or other associations around Europe to talk about the rights of the managers and having stadium bans as I mentioned. From my point of view, from my side, I want to be out of it. I want to let the game tomorrow finish. That's it.'
The 52-year-old (above in our artist's impression) could to use his mobile phone to contact his coaches
Mourinho was handed the one-match stadium ban and £40,000 fine for comments made to referee Jon Moss at half-time during Chelsea's 2-1 loss at West Ham on October 24.
The Portuguese is understood to have said to Moss: 'Arsene Wenger was right, you are f****** soft.' Banished from the dug-out, he was forced to watch the second half unfold from an executive box.
Mourinho is alleged to have got around a UEFA stadium ban in 2005 by hiding in a laundry basket, which allowed him to give pre-match and half-time team talks during a Champions League match against Bayern Munich.
He says that will not be a tactic he uses in Saturday's game.
