In his bid to avoid being deferred to the disciplinary commission, fourth official Marco Serra has apologised for having the ‘wrong attitude’ and body language during the row with Roma coach Jose Mourinho, but denies insulting him.
The incident occurred on the touchline during the Giallorossi’s 2-1 defeat away to Cremonese, with Mourinho infuriated by what he claimed were insults from the fourth official.
Mou’s two-match Serie A ban was initially suspended pending further investigation, but was confirmed on appeal.
Serra might still be deferred to the disciplinary commission and is accused of breaking the referee’s association code of ethics too.
With this in mind, Serra and his lawyers requested a new meeting with the FIGC prosecutor today to clarify his position.
“Looking back at the footage, at his body language, not turning around and keeping his hands in his pockets, that was ‘imperfect’ and if he had realised it at the time, he would’ve apologised to the Roma coach,” lawyer Gabriele Bordoni explained.
However, Serra continues to insist he did not verbally insult Mourinho, maintaining it was a misunderstanding in the loud noise of the stadium.
“At the end of a frank and fair discussion, we believe that we showed in a credible and coherent fashion that the coach was exasperated by an imperfect attitude.
“Serra said he understood his attitude could’ve been misunderstood and irritated Mourinho. We asked that the matter ends here and we would like it to conclude with a handshake between gentlemen.”
Serra has spoken to Le Iene on Mediaset to clarify his view of what happened.
“I said nothing that could offend Mourinho. I only said ‘You are making the whole stadium turn against you. Go into your area. Go into your area.”
Mourinho and some lip-reading of the footage suggested that Serra had said: ‘They are all making fun of you. Go home. Go home.’
No chance, he had the opportunity to apologise and then the 2 match ban was upheld. There’s no way Mou will accept this half arsed apology.