Roma’s manager, Jose Mourinho, has revealed that he wore a microphone during his team’s 1-1 draw against Monza on Wednesday to protect himself against what he calls “the worst referee I have met in my life”, Daniele Chiffi.
The referee had sent off Roma’s Mehmet Zeki Celik in the 96th minute, leading Mourinho to criticize Chiffi’s abilities as a referee.
According to Mourinho, he recorded everything that happened during the game, from the moment he left the locker room to the moment he returned.
He claims that Chiffi is technically horrible and has zero empathy, communication, and awareness. The manager added that he stopped working 20-30 minutes before the end of the game because he knew Chiffi would give him a red card for anything.
Mourinho also revealed that he has received three red cards this season for disputes with officials, including one from Chiffi in September.
He believes that Chiffi’s decision to give a second yellow card to a player who slipped in the 96th minute is unjustifiable.
The result of the game left Roma in seventh place in Serie A, outside the European qualification places on goal difference. Mourinho believes that the team’s weakness as a club is also reflected in their inability to reject referees they do not want.
In February, Mourinho was sent off and received a two-match ban for an altercation with the fourth official in Roma’s 2-1 defeat by Cremonese.
He threatened to take legal action after suggesting that the official had spoken to him in an unjustifiable way.
Despite his criticism of Chiffi, Mourinho has dealt with many bad referees in the past. However, he usually only talks about referees when they have a direct influence on the game. Mourinho hopes that Chiffi’s poor performance will not have a negative impact on Roma’s season.