Roma manager Jose Mourinho renounced his spot on a UEFA board. The board, consisting of players and coaches in the European game, tackles concerns in soccer. For example, that could be officiating, VAR and the busy calendar. Meetings only take place once a year in Nyon, Switzerland. Some of the other members of the board include Carlo Ancelotti, Zinedine Zidane, Gareth Bale and Paolo Maldini.

Mourinho was a headline name on that UEFA board that the organization approved in April. However, no more than a month later, Mourinho made headlines for a fiery tirade toward referee Anthony Taylor in the Europa League Final that Mourinho’s Roma lost. As a result, UEFA suspended the manager for Roma’s next four European games. This upcoming season, Roma is competing in the Europa League again.

Mourinho sent a letter to Zvonimir Boban, the chair of the board, to communicate his decision. Asking Boban to relay the message to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, Mourinho said it felt right to make this decision.

“The conditions which I so strongly believed in when I joined are no longer standing and I felt the obligation to take this decision.” Mourinho added that his decision is effective immediately.

Mourinho steps away from UEFA board amid suspension

Clearly, Mourinho was displeased with the reaction UEFA had to his antics after the Europa League Final. Four games is a stiff punishment. However, Mourinho was acting out of order by UEFA’s standards. In addition to harassing Taylor and the referee crew during the game, Mourinho waited in the parking lot for the referee after the game.

Taylor was in the headlines in the days after the Europa League Final for the way Roma supporters treated him and his family when they were leaving Budapest. The antics brought concern from several referees and from the general soccer public.

PHOTO: IMAGO & LaPresse