Chelsea manager demands an apology from referee for not spotting Van Persie in off-side position
LONDON: Luiz Felipe Scolari has demanded that blundering Premier League officials say sorry for their mistakes. The Chelsea manager urged the Football Association (FA) to listen to his plea and take action, saying players and managers apologised for their errors and it was high time officials did the same.
Scolari slammed referee Mike Dean and his assistants John Stokes and Simon Beck for their performance in Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat to visitors Arsenal in the London derby at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Chelsea were 1-0 ahead thanks to a 30th-minute own goal from Switzerland defender Johan Djourou when Arsenal’s Netherlands striker Robin van Persie equalised from an offside position in the 59th minute before scoring the winner three minutes later.
The equaliser left Scolari fuming and demanding an apology. “Do you hear me speak about the referees any time? Never. For 15 games in the Premier League, five games in the Champions League and more in the Carling Cup I didn’t say anything. But now it’s different,” the Portuguese boss said.
“I want only that the referee watches the television, see that it is wrong and they say sorry. They are not God. They make a mistake and I understand. I don’t want three points, I only want for them, one time, to say ‘sorry - it’s a mistake’.” However, Scolari feared his plea would go ignored. “What will happen? Nothing,” he said.
The former Brazil manager said Van Persie’s first goal had completely thrown his team’s game plan. “He was one metre in front, maybe it was more than a metre in front and it was not offside. What do you think I should think?” he said.
“It was a big mistake against us. It was difficult to play and after this, my team lost their concentration and we did not play well.”
