Juve and Inter fight off the pitch

Table of Contents
The battle between Juventus and Inter Milan, whose rapport was already bitter following the Calciopoli scandal of 2006, is set to intensify following José Mourinho's seven-minute rant at a press conference.

The Nerazzurri coach hit the headlines with his seven-minute rant against the media ‘conspiracy’ of refereeing errors to make it seem as if Inter were favoured by the officials.

Inter were awarded a controversial penalty against AS Roma at the weekend which clinched a point in a 3-3 draw to the frustration of Giallorossi coach Luciano Spalletti, who was livid and accused Mario Balotelli of diving.

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri then said he sympathised with Spalletti, prompting Mourinho to retort: "I like intellectual honesty and it seems to me that there has been much manipulation of this recently.

"Lately, there has been no talk of Roma that have great players but will end the season empty handed. Nor has there been any talk of AC Milan, who are 12 points behind us and will end the season without any titles.

"Nor has there been any talk of Juve, who have collected many points due to refereeing mistakes.

"We have only won one game thanks to a refereeing mistake and that was against Siena.

"If Ranieri is on Spallettis side, I am on the side of (Catania coach) Walter Zenga, (Atalanta coach Luigi) Del Neri and (Fiorentina coach Cesare) Prandelli.

"All these coaches lost three points against Juve."

The Bianconeri later issued a statement demanding "Inter publicly denounce such allegations."

A statement in Juve's official website said: "After having read with great care the serious allegations made by the Inter coach, Juventus express their astonishment and disgust, asking Inter to publicly denounce these comments.

"With his statements, the Inter coach has not only shown a lack of respect for Juventus and their 14 million fans, but to the whole of Italian football.

"Rather than feeding a dangerous culture of suspicion, the club representatives have a duty to show educations and a sense of responsibility and civility – before, during and after games – to sustain the evolution of Italian football and its international image."

While Inter have replied to Juventus' statement saying: "After having read with great care the official statement from Juventus FC, we underline that José Mourinho replied in clear and explicit fashion to an attack on the same level.

"Our coach expressed his ideas - without insinuation or malice, with the honesty that is his style and which is very much appreciated by this club."

The Federation could get involved, though, as FIGC President Giancarlo Abete has already said they are evaluating the comments to see if any action can be taken.

Did you like our post? If so, please subscribe to our RSS feed to receive more updates. You can also subscribe by Email and enjoy our latest posts sent directly to your inbox. Thank you for reading!


Related links:

Team


Also see:

Technorati tags:

Post a Comment