Jose Mourinho has written an official letter renouncing his appointment into UEFA Football Board.
In what could be seen as an escalation of tensions between the veteran football manager and the UEFA hierarchy, Mourinho left no stone unturned as he lashed out at the body and, by extension, UEFA for watered down standards in the game.
An excerpt of the letter made available by the Football Italia shows the enduring angst and disdain towards UEFA by Jose Mourinho.
In plain and candid tones, Jose Mourinho blasted UEFA and berated the board for what he considered the inappropriate handling of the game by the authorities.
In a vindictive letter to UEFA Football Board Chief Zvornimir Boban, Mourinho declined his membership of the board and blasted the organization for double standards.
Thanking Boban for the invitation to join the Board, Jose Mourinho said he regrets to inform Boban he has chosen to decline the offer because he believe the principles of practice and conduct of the game have been ravaged.
In another shocking addition to the letter, Mourinho asked Boban to extend his decision declining the offer of the UEFA Football Board to UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin.
“Dear Mr. Boban, in thanking you for the invitation you extended to me to be a member of the UEFA Football Board, I regret to inform you that, effective immediately, I will be renouncing to my participation in this group.
“The conditions which I so strongly believed in when I joined are no longer standing and I felt the obligation to take this decision.
“I kindly ask that you also communicate my decision to the President Mr. Aleksander Čeferin.
“Kind regards, Jose Mourinho”
Notably, UEFA Football Board is an advisory arm of UEFA. It is made up of top veteran European coaches and ex-footballers and are charged with the role of proffering solutions and suggesting improvements to the organization of the game.
According to Football Italia, Jose Mourinho’s bombshell letter to Boban and UEFA would have been directly addressed to UEFA President, as the appointment carried the mandate of UEFA with Ceferin at the head of the leadership. Instead, Mourinho chose to address it to Boban and asked the latter to extend the decision to Ceferin.
This shows the ruptured relationship between Jose Mourinho and the European football governing body and its leadership led by Aleksander Ceferin.
Recently, Jose Mourinho has been at loggerheads with UEFA after he was hit with a four-match ban following his uncouth confrontation with veteran English and UEFA referee, Anthony Taylor.
Mourinho blamed Anthony Taylor for Roma’s Europa League final loss to Sevilla at Budapest. After the match, he accousted Anthony Taylor at the Stadium’s car park and blasted him for his poor officiating, calling him “a f**king disgrace.”
Following the clash with Anthony Taylor, Jose Mourinho was slammed with a four-match ban by UEFA. His rejection of the call to membership of UEFA Football Board could be seen as an escalation of the tension between the veteran football manager and UEFA following his four-match suspension.
Generally, Mourinho has always been in the news blasting subpar officiating by match officials. He has been bitterly critical of the refereeing in Italian football and in Europe.
