Jose Mourinho refuses to do press conference after Roma loss

Roma manager Jose Mourinho refused to take part in a post-match press conference over the weekend after his side’s defeat to Lazio.

The Rome derby was always bound to be a lively affair given the bitter rivalry the two clubs share and in the end, it was Lazio who came away with a dramatic 3-2 win that took them up to sixth in the Serie A table. The hosts surged into a 2-0 lead before Mourinho’s men fought back to make it 3-2 with 20 minutes remaining, but they weren’t quite able to break the door down and get the equaliser they needed.

From there it felt like an inevitability that Jose would have some kind of issue with what went down in the fixture and as per a recent report, that came to the surface in preparation for the post-match press conference.

The Mourinho rollercoaster continues

Since the start of the pandemic clubs like Lazio don’t allow newspaper and web journalists to ask questions directly to the coaches – and they instead have to send their questions to a press officer.

It avoids having to have close contact between the manager and the journalists in attendance but in a video released online in the last few hours, Mourinho can be seen arguing about the process.

YouTube video

“Lazio chose for their coach, I want to talk to the press,” Mourinho said.

The former Tottenham Hotspur boss was then told that the rules apply to him too as Lazio were the home team for the game.

“Okay, okay, they’ll talk to him,” the Portuguese coach said before walking off.

After such a positive start to the campaign many have been left to wonder whether or not Mourinho’s return to Italian football is already beginning to unravel – or if this is just part of the Jose way.

Featured image credit: Getty