Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho believes an independent panel retrospectively punishing divers would be a “disaster”.
The west Londoners have found themselves at the heart of the simulation debate this week after several high-profile incidents during last weekend’s 2-0 win against Hull.
Diego Costa and Willian both received yellow cards for dives at Stamford Bridge, where City boss Steve Bruce claimed Gary Cahill went down “like something out of Swan Lake” in the penalty box.
Those incidents, along with a smattering of others, have brought the topic of diving to the fore, with former referee Mark Halsey suggesting the “only one real solution” is to have an independent panel review such decisions retrospectively.
That, Mourinho says, would be a terrible development.
“The independent panels don’t do their job well in any case,” the Portuguese said.
“When you go to an independent panel to analyse and suspend players by video evidence, it is a disaster. It is a disaster.
“I remember last season, and I don’t want to say the names of clubs or players, you had players and clubs punished by panels and you had clubs and players protected by panels.
“I saw somebody kick a player on the floor, hit him in the back - no suspension. I saw others with minor things being suspended.
“Players are punished for silly comments on Facebook, Instagram and this kind of thing, and players are not punished for other things.
“You speak one week about one dive that, for me, was not even a dive - you don’t speak about Filipe Luis who could be in this moment in the hospital having big surgery on his knee or in his leg.
“Independent panels are the same ones that last season analysed my situation against Aston Villa and I was punished and suspended because I tried to help, so for me panels only favour the ones who always have the favours.”
Refereeing was the main talking point in the press conference ahead of Monday’s trip to Stoke, where Mourinho repeatedly underlined the need for referee Neil Swarbrick to control the game.
“I like [the test of going to Stoke],” he said. “I like, but it’s no problem with a good referee that can understand what is aggressivity, or when the aggression finishes and start the rules of the game. No problem at all.
“We need a good referee, yes. I think we need a good, experienced referee who can understand exactly that.
“What happened in both boxes in this kind of matches needs important decisions.
“What is aggressivity and what goes beyond, go beyond the rules of the game. That is important, but I like it, yes.”
The referee’s performance was a theme Mourinho kept revisiting, from being asked about Thibaut Courtois dealing with crosses to and whether Mark Hughes’ side is as aggressive as that of the Tony Pulis era.
“We have our own identity,” the Chelsea boss said. “We want to play football.
“We play beautiful football and that’s what we want to do, but we can compete with physicality.
“That’s no problem for us. The referee is there and I’m not worried because the referee is there.”
English Premier League results & fixtures
Saturday
Manchester City 3 Crystal Palace 0
Aston Villa 1 Manchester United 1
Hull City 0 Swansea City 1
Queens Park Rangers 3 West Bromwich Albion 2
Southampton 3 Everton 0
Tottenham Hotspur 2 Burnley 1
West Ham United 2 Leicester City 0
Sunday (in UAE time)
Newcastle United v Sunderland, 5.30pm
Liverpool v Arsenal, 8pm
Monday
Stoke City v Chelsea, midnight
Follow us on Twitter @SprtNationalUAE
Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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RESULTS
Manchester United 2
Anthony Martial 30'
Scott McTominay 90 6'
Manchester City 0
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Match info
Uefa Nations League Group B:
England v Spain, Saturday, 11.45pm (UAE)
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million