We’re not the most sensitive people here in SportsJOE but we really felt sorry for referee Phil Dowd after this Jose Mourinho insult.
A story in today’s Mirror recounts a tale of the Chelsea boss accosting the (just a little bit pudgy) official after Chelsea lost 5-3 away to Tottenham on New Year’s Day.
According to witnesses at White Hart Lane, the Portuguese said: “You’re too fat to referee, you should retire!” before adding “you’ve cost us.”
The frustration began for Mourinho when Dowd failed to award a penalty after Tottenham defender Jan Verthongen appeared to handle the ball in the area but it boiled over to full-on fury by the final whistle if the reports are to be believed.
The fact that “The Special One” visited the officials’ room after the game and that Dowd failed to include the outburst in his match report would suggest that an apology of some sort came afterwards.
This is not the first time that concern over Dowd’s weight has come into question as former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was also quite vocal in his belief that Dowd’s fitness was not up to the level it should be.
As well as that, some suggestions emerged in 2012 that he had failed a fitness test but the powers that be from the Premier League were quick to dismiss those rumours.
