Ref talk could land Rijkaard in touble
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard could face a reprimand by UEFA for talking to referee Anders Frisk inside the official’s own dressing room during the half-time interval of their Champions League clash with Chelsea last night.
The Barcelona coach was witnessed leaving the room used by the Swedish official and that is almost certain to be the main thrust of Chelsea’s imminent complaint to UEFA.
UEFA are likely to take a dim view of Rijkaard’s actions which would appear to be highly inappropriate irrespective of the topic they discussed.
Chelsea confirmed today that they were in the process of making a strong protest to UEFA about Rijkaard’s conversation with Frisk, although they have yet to accuse the Barca coach of entering official’s dressing room.
The Barclays Premiership leaders also moved quickly to scotch stories of an alleged tunnel bust-up in which Mourinho was understood to have been kicked up the backside by Barcelona’s assistant coach Henk Ten Cate.
Chelsea today issued a further comment denying such an incident took place.
The statement read: “Following Chelsea’s statement after the Barcelona match last night, it is being reported through various media outlets that an incident occurred between Jose Mourinho and a member of the Barcelona coaching staff.
"This incident did not happen and Chelsea can therefore confirm that this will not form part of our report to UEFA which is currently being prepared.”
However, the Londoners will be pressing UEFA to deal with Rijkaard’s actions at half-time. It is understood that Rijkaard was seen leaving Frisk’s dressing room during the interval.
UEFA have already claimed that their own tunnel representative witnessed nothing out of the ordinary during the half-time break and were waiting for the arrival of Frisk’s report as well as Chelsea’s complaint before investigating the matter further.
The Londoners could find themselves on the receiving end of a heavy fine for refusing to talk to the media after last night’s 2-1 defeat in the Nou Camp.
Speculation had been rife that Ten Cate had kicked the Chelsea manager on the backside during an alleged tunnel fracas involving the Barca assistant and the club’s goalkeeping coach Silvinho Louro.
Chelsea have yet to make any comment on that incident but insist that Ten Cate did not assault Mourinho.
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