Roma manager Jose Mourinho was sent off for the third time this season following the clubs 2-1 defeat to Cremonese and threatened legal action against the fourth official. Mourinho had already been dismissed twice in the 2022-23 campaign, against Atalanta and Torino, and saw red again during Cremonese’s first Serie A victory in 26 years.
Speaking after the game, the Portuguese tactician blasted the fourth official for his management of the game, insinuating the decision to send him off was motivated by other factors:
“I am emotional, but not crazy. 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.
“I don’t want to get into the fact that Serra is from Turin and on Sunday we are playing against Juventus. 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.”
