Chelsea
manager Jose Mourinho has reaffirmed his belief referees are placed under
too much pressure as he faced the media ahead of Saturday’s game at Swansea.
Mourinho returned to press conference duties after serving a self-imposed
ban after comments he made after their 1-1 draw with Southampton on December
28 led to an FA charge, which he subsequently appealed.
He claimed there was a "clear campaign" by "people, pundits, commentators
and coaches from other teams" against his Premier League leaders and
labelled the yellow card shown to Cesc Fabregas for diving at St Mary's a
"scandal".
Mourinho was in more jovial mood ahead of the trip to the Liberty Stadium
but maintained “every decision is going against us.”
"Now I am in conditions to control myself and one week ago I couldn't," he
said.
"It would have put myself under bigger problems, so now I can smile and
control my words."
The Chelsea boss was keen to stress he has no issues with officials
themselves and admitted he was happy to apologise for comments made to
referee Kevin Friend in relation to a spurned penalty appeal in their FA Cup
victory over Watford.
"We're not against the referees," he added. "We understand the job is not an
easy one.
"I am happy to admit my mistakes, so when I spoke with Kevin Friend and
realised that it was my mistake and not his mistake, I was more than happy
to apologise, so there are no problems.
"But the reality is that every decision is going against us and the results
were affected by that but far from us - very far from us - to put any doubt
about the honesty of the people."
Mourinho also commented on Manchester City’s signing of Swansea striker
Wilfried Bony for £28m, complementing the player but taking a sideswipe at
City in the progress.
“Well done, well done. He is a good striker and they can spend the money if
they have no problems with Financial Fair Play. Well done,” he said.
“They can only play with 11 unless the rules for them are different and they
can play with 12.
“It looks like rules are different for them in certain aspects but in this
one (players on the pitch), it will be no different.
“If Bony plays and Edin Dzeko is on the bench, I am happy with that.”
When pressed on what aspects of the rules are different for City compared to
other clubs, Mourinho would only say, “you know what I mean.”
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