Mourinho says referee was 'weak' after Champs League draw

Mourinho says referee was 'weak' after Champs League draw

Published Oct. 21, 2015 6:40 a.m. ET

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has described a Champions League referee as ''weak and naive,'' and compared him to beleaguered rugby official Craig Joubert.

Mourinho made his comments to British television channel BT Sport on Tuesday night after Slovenian referee Damir Skomina failed to award a penalty to his team during Chelsea's 0-0 draw with Dynamo Kiev.

The Portuguese coach was last week fined 50,000 pounds ($77,400) and handed a suspended one-match stadium ban by the English Football Association for criticizing a Premier League referee for not awarding a penalty during Chelsea's 3-1 loss to Southampton earlier this month.

Mourinho tempered his criticism of Skomina, saying that the official's refereeing Tuesday was ''very good'' apart from the penalty incident.

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He compared Skomina to South African rugby referee Joubert, who has been widely criticized in Britain for his decision to award a penalty that cost Scotland victory over Australia in a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal last week.

''I think (Skomina) made one mistake and, for example in the Rugby World Cup, I think the referee in the Scotland game was very good, but he made one mistake and because of that mistake Scotland is crying,'' Mourinho said.

Joubert was publicly criticized for his decision by rugby's world governing body and has not been selected for the World Cup semifinals.

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