Roma has been fined just over $10,000 by Serie A officials due to issues with the club’s ball boys. According to the Italian top flight, the Roma ball boys deliberately slowed down play during a recent matchup with Monza. Jose Mourinho’s club beat the White and Reds 1-0 thanks to a dramatic late goal from Stephan El Shaarawy.
“Roma, by way of objective responsibility to have its own ball boys, after the goal has been scored, systematically slowed down the regular restart of the game, forcing the referee to extend injury time by two minutes,” claimed the Italian league.
Mourinho also suspended for separate incident
Along with the fine for the club, Mourinho picked up a one-game suspension. However, the ruling for the manager was not because of the team’s ball boys. The Portuguese coach was seen mocking the Monza bench in the latter moment of the match. Mourinho made crying gestures towards his opponents after he deemed their coaching staff to have complained to officials.
Mourinho was, of course, sent off during the game for the move. Nevertheless, the referee’s decision confused the manager.
“I don’t know why I got the red card. I only made a gesture to the bench, not a single word,” Mourinho claimed during his postgame interview. “The Monza bench put a lot of pressure on the referee. They shouldn’t have behaved like that.”
The suspension means that Mourinho will not be on the sidelines for his team’s massive matchup with Inter Milan at the weekend. Inter is currently leading the Serie A standings by one point over rivals AC Milan. Roma, despite the recent victory, is seventh in the table.
Mourinho’s men have managed to collect three consecutive victories after a slow start to the campaign. In fact, Roma only picked up one win in their opening six Serie A games this season. They previously sat as low as 18th in the top flight due to the unusual early results.
Jose Mourinho argues with a Stoke City ball boy while managing Manchester United.
Roma manager previously voiced concerns regarding ball boys
Mourinho has an interesting history regarding ball boys. The coach previously labeled Leicester City’s ball boys as a “disgrace to the Premier League” following a 2-1 defeat while with Chelsea in 2015. Mourinho believed that the kids were purposely wasting time during the game. The remarks ended up being the manager’s last comments as a Chelsea coach. The London club sacked him soon after.
Two years later, Mourinho managed Manchester United. A lack of speed from United’s ball boys frustrated the Portuguese manager. Eventually, Mourinho brought on the club’s academy players because the volunteers were too slow in their ball retrieval.
However, there was one specific incident involving a ball boy that Mourinho was happy about. While with Tottenham Hotspur, a ball boy aided a goal during a 4-2 victory against Olympiakos. The kid collected a ball swiftly and threw it to Serge Aurier on the sideline. The defender’s throw-in eventually made it up the pitch to a teammate while the visitors attempted to retreat. After the goal, Mourinho congratulated and thanked the youngster.
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