Pellegrini apology over referee blast
Print Edition
Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini has apologized for his comments about the referee after his side’s 0-2 Champions League defeat by Barcelona on Tuesday, although he maintains Jonas Eriksson did play a role in the eventual outcome.
Pellegrini questioned the impartiality of Sweden’s Eriksson and accused him of deciding the outcome of the last-16 first leg match.
“When you lose a game the way we lost against Barcelona, you are frustrated, you are angry,” he told a news conference yesterday ahead of his side’s English Premier League match against Stoke City.
“Maybe I said something but I don’t think that way. I want to apologize for what I said. I didn’t say he was a bad referee, that he was not honest, that he cannot referee in UEFA, that was the first thing I want to clarify.
“I felt from the beginning his criteria was not the same for both teams, I think he had a bad day — everyone can have a bad day — but I didn’t say that intentionally he didn’t give fouls for us or did give fouls for Barcelona.”
Governing body UEFA launched a probe into the Chilean’s comments on Thursday, ahead of potential disciplinary proceedings.
City fell behind early in the second half when Eriksson awarded a penalty for a foul by Martin Demichelis on fellow Argentine Lionel Messi on the edge of the box and the defender was sent off.
There were suggestions a City player had been fouled before the incident.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
