The Football Association has given José Mourinho until 6pm on Friday to explain his comments about the referee Anthony Taylor in the buildup to Manchester United’s match at Liverpool on Monday night.
The governing body has written to the Portuguese after he appeared to break FA rules forbidding managers from speaking about referees before matches by questioning whether it would be difficult for Taylor to have “a very good performance”.
The appointment of the Manchester-born official was challenged by Keith Hackett, once the referees’ chief, and his close ally, Mark Halsey, even though the referee is affiliated to the Cheshire FA and a season-ticket holder at Altrincham, with no ties to either Premier League club in the Anfield fixture.
“I think Mr Taylor is a very good referee but because such pressure is being put on him I think it will be difficult for him to have a very good performance at Anfield,” said Mourinho. “I don’t really want to say too much more on the matter. I have my view but I have learned a lesson, if you want to call it that, by being punished so many times for my words about referees.”
The FA has studied his comments and has now asked Mourinho to provide an explanation before deciding whether to charge him. If found guilty of contravening a rule that was introduced in 2009 to crack down on managers making pre-match comments about officials which could be viewed as intimidating or trying to influence decisions, he is likely to face a large fine.
Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to be charged with improper conduct for such an offence, in May 2011, because of comments he had made about Howard Webb before a game against Chelsea. It was Ferguson’s sixth FA charge in five years for comments he had made about or to referees, although the difference was he had actually been praising Webb, describing him as “definitely the best referee in the country”.
