• Premier League

Mourinho risks suspension with outburst over referees

Jose Mourinho has risked further disciplinary action from the FA after launching an extraordinary rant over refereeing standards and criticising Sky Sports' coverage of his Chelsea side during an appearance on the channel.

Unlike the cryptic interviews he gave in the immediate aftermath of Chelsea's 1-1 draw at home to Burnley, Mourinho was outspoken over Ashley Barnes' "criminal" challenge which he said could have ended Nemanja Matic's career.

The tackle went unpunished by referee Martin Atkinson, while Matic was shown a red card after reacting by pushing Barnes to the floor.

'Football's most interesting man'

Sneering and intense, Jose Mourinho is as entertaining as ever © PA Photos

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In a lengthy outburst on Sky Sports' Goals on Sunday programme, in an appearance that was announced only 20 minutes before the show began, Mourinho also accused the broadcaster of double standards.

The Chelsea manager revealed he was angered after Sky showed a montage of Diego Costa fouls, labelled with the caption "Costa's crimes", following the League Cup semi-final second leg against Liverpool, and demanded an apology on Sunday.

"When I finished the game against Liverpool I went to the dressing room and I was reading non-stop about Diego Costa's crimes," said Mourinho, who was fined £25,000 and warned as to his future conduct last month over claims there was an orchestrated "campaign" against his side.

"I would like to know how do you, Sky Sports, describe the actions of a Burnley player [Barnes] yesterday? My English is not good enough to find an adjective to qualify. I don't find a word to describe."

Chelsea were leading 1-0 at the time of Matic's dismissal, but the visitors went on to snatch a point through Ben Mee's header, with second-placed Manchester City taking advantage by hammering Newcastle 5-0 to cut the gap at the top to five points.

"The challenge from Ashley Barnes on Nemanja Matic can be the end of a career," Mourinho continued. "I cannot find an adjective to describe it. It is end of career. Nemanja Matic is a very lucky guy. Another club would have the power to appeal Matic's red card.

"Did you apologise to Chelsea [for the Costa's crimes video]? Did you apologise to Diego or to myself as Chelsea manager? You didn't.

"As an institution, as Sky, it's so important [to] the Premier League and the support for this country [that] you would never apologise."

Mourinho also maintained that referee Atkinson had a poor game on Saturday.

"The best players in the world make mistakes," said Mourinho. "This gentleman [Atkinson] is one of the top referees in European football: he can also make mistakes.

"He clearly made four important mistakes yesterday. He is like the lawyer who is consistent because he lost 15 of 15 cases. You don't want that lawyer."

Mourinho: The consequence for Matic could be end of career http://t.co/q6r9FttKvQ pic.twitter.com/iJ8fdy9awH— Sky Sports GOS (@GoalsOnSunday) February 22, 2015

Mourinho had said after the game that he was unhappy with incidents in the 30th, 33rd, 43rd and 69th minutes, suggesting Barnes should have been punished for a challenge on Branislav Ivanovic, Chelsea should have had two penalties, and that the failure to punish Barnes for his first tackle led to the challenge on Matic, which prompted the reaction that saw the Serbian dismissed.

He had refused to discuss the incidents in too much detail on Saturday, saying: "I'm punished when I refer to these situations. I don't want to be punished." However, he was willing to elaborate on Sunday.

"At half-time, Burnley should be playing with 10 men and Chelsea should have two penalties," he said.

"Normally, we win 3-0 or let's put in the possibility of missing one of the penalties - we win 2-0 and play against 10 men. The reality is that in the end, we play with 10 men and lost two points."

Mourinho said he realised he could face a suspension for the League Cup final against Tottenham next Sunday by making his complaints public.

"I'm risking my dugout in the final because maybe tomorrow I get a ban," he said. "The incidents, I'm speaking about week after week, exactly because it's week after week ...

"When I go to the media and do what I did [on Saturday] - '30, 33, 43, 69 and goodbye' - or do what I'm doing with you, I'm not attacking the honesty or dignity of anyone, I'm not trying to bring the game into disrepute - which is always [the phrase] they use when they want to punish me.

"I'm just trying to be honest. If you ask me about the five-points difference [over City] I would say that if we are in a normal situation where mistakes which are part of the game are sometimes in our favour, sometimes against us, it wouldn't be five, it would be 12."

Nemanja Matic's reaction to Ashley Barnes' challenge was enough to earn him a red card © Getty Images

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