UEFA announced on Wednesday that Jose Mourinho will face a four-match suspension in European competitions for verbally abusing referee Anthony Taylor after Roma’s Europa League final loss to Sevilla. This incident occurred in a car park in Budapest following Roma’s penalty shoot-out defeat, resulting in a 1-1 draw. Mourinho’s ban includes the next four UEFA club competition matches in which he would otherwise participate.
In addition to Mourinho’s suspension, Roma has been fined 50,000 euros and barred from bringing away fans to their next European match due to incidents such as the use of fireworks, object throwing, damage, and crowd disturbances. The club also faces a 5,000 euro fine for improper conduct, with a directive to liaise with the Hungarian Football Federation within 30 days to settle damages caused by their supporters during the final.
Anthony Taylor, the referee, faced harassment from Roma fans at Budapest airport the day after the controversial final. An Italian man has been charged with affray related to this incident. The Referees’ body PGMOL expressed dismay at the unwarranted abuse directed at Taylor and his family.
The game itself, marked by a high number of fouls, saw Taylor booking 13 players, seven from Roma. Despite charges against Sevilla for a pitch invasion and the behavior of their fans and players, UEFA did not impose any sanctions on the club. In Mourinho’s first European final defeat, Sevilla secured their seventh Europa League triumph.
West Ham, following their Europa Conference League triumph over Fiorentina, received a also 58,000 euro fine and a ban on fans attending their first two away games in the next Europa League season. This penalty is in response to incidents including a pitch invasion and an injury to Fiorentina’s captain, Cristiano Biraghi, caused by a thrown cup from a West Ham supporter during the final in Prague, which West Ham won 2-1.