On Thursday, after receiving criticism from Jose Mourinho following Sevilla’s victory, irate Roma fans surrounded referee Anthony Taylor at the Budapest airport.
At the Puskas Arena on Wednesday night, Paulo Dybala gave the Italian team a halftime advantage. However, Gianluca Mancini’s own goal early in the second half gave the game back to Italy, forcing extra time and then penalties.
Prior to Argentina’s World Cup final shoot-out hero Gonzalo Montiel scoring yet another trophy-winning penalty following a dramatic retake, Sevilla custodian Bono made two excellent saves.
After the game, though, Mourinho and many of his players were furious. The former Chelsea manager was so incensed by some of the final officials’ rulings that he waited for Taylor and the others in the stadium parking lot and called them a “f***ing disgrace” in an incredible tirade.
At the Budapest airport on Thursday afternoon, angry Roma supporters unfortunately carried on that hatred towards the officials, abusing Taylor and his family as they walked into the gate.
As the Premier League referee and his family are led into a private room for their own protection, footage posted on social media shows big groups of Roma supporters yelling violently at them.
A number of plastic water bottles looked to have been hurled, and as Taylor and his daughter made their way through the crowd, someone in the crowd appeared to rush for Taylor and another threw a chair in his direction.
Taylor and his family were eventually able to escape to safety thanks to the police, and according to Football Italia, the police have detained the supporter who hurled the chair.
‘We are aware of footage circulating on social media depicting Anthony Taylor and his family being harassed and assaulted at Budapest Airport,’ the official refereeing organisation PGMOL stated in a statement.
We are horrified by the vile hatred that has been hurled at Anthony and his family as he travels home from officiating the UEFA Europa League final.
“We will continue to support Anthony and his family fully.”
Ref Support UK, a charity for referees, tweeted in response to the video: “This is so, so worrying to see, and we hope Anthony and his family are OK.”
“For this reason, we think groups like the @LMA_Managers, the @PFA, and the @WeAreTheFSA ought to publicly denounce such behaviour in our nation.
This is encouraged by managers’ remarks and players’ actions, and it is getting to the point where a severe incident or murder might happen at any moment.
The tragic events will further intensify the pressure on UEFA to take action in response to Mourinho’s provocative remarks; the Portuguese coach repeatedly criticised Taylor in post-match interviews and even said that Taylor “seemed Spanish.”
Even though the Argentine was clipped with a slight touch of the ball by Roger Ibanez that was later picked up by VAR and recommended Taylor to reverse his original penalty call, Mourinho was not happy with the decision to book Lorenzo Pellegrini for a clear dive but not show a yellow to Lucas Ocampos when he went down inside the box.
Although there wasn’t much merit to the Italian team’s claim of a penalty for a handball, Mourinho, who had just lost in a European final for the first time, was furious when it was announced.
The 60-year-old remarked, “We won’t be participating in the Champions League next year, and that’s a good thing because we’re not made for it.
And let’s hope Taylor does the same bull**** he did tonight just when officiating matches in the Champions League and not in the Europa League.
