Lega Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo hit back at Jose Mourinho’s protests at the scheduling after Roma lost to Inter. ‘His comments sounded like an alibi.’
The game kicked off at San Siro on Sunday at 17.00 GMT and ended 1-0 for the Nerazzurri thanks to a late Marcus Thuram goal.
Mourinho did not speak to the regular media channels after the match, only giving an interview to the official Roma Channel in which he lambasted the refereeing for ‘targeted yellow cards’ against his players.
He also expressed irritation at the ‘gift’ from the Lega Serie A of scheduling this for Sunday when Roma had played in the Europa League on Thursday evening.
“I respect Mourinho for what he does for Roma and for football, but in all honesty, his comments sounded like an alibi,” replied Lega Serie A chief De Siervo on GR Parlamento radio.
“He is a professional who knows our world of sport. Just look at Barcelona, who played in the Champions League and then had the Clasico against Real Madrid at 4pm.
“There was no other way of dealing with this, an important fixture must be played in the moment of peak viewing.”
Roma had requested that the showdown with Inter be moved to Monday evening, when Empoli-Atalanta and Lazio-Fiorentina are taking place.
It is certainly not the first time that Mourinho and Roma director Tiago Pinto have complained about the scheduling of their matches after European commitments.
“Serie A is extraordinary. We have an exciting battle at the top of the table, not to mention the exhilarating Cagliari win from 3-0 down to beat Frosinone 4-3 on Sunday. It is a very competitive league and in the last four years, the title has been won by four different clubs, whereas in other countries you see the same sides always come out on top.”
Mou was right. It could have been allowed. The chief’s admittance about prime viewing points that the emphasis isn’t on helping the teams, but about profitability etc