Referee's report clears Chelsea

SOCCER: The referee, Rene Temmink, made no mention of mysterious behaviour by Chelsea's coaching staff in his report on their…

SOCCER: The referee, Rene Temmink, made no mention of mysterious behaviour by Chelsea's coaching staff in his report on their Champions League game at home to Bayern Munich.

The Dutchman stated that the fourth official did not approach the Chelsea dug-out during the second half because he suspected that Jose Mourinho was passing messages to the bench but merely because of their treatment of the nearby assistant referee.

Temmink's report increases the likelihood that there will be no Uefa investigation into Chelsea's conduct, although the governing body will study the match delegate's report and television pictures before making a final decision.

There have been suggestions that Mourinho might have flouted his touchline ban by getting information to his fitness coach Rui Faria via an earpiece or to the goalkeeping coach Silvino Louro, who went into the tunnel several times.

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Chelsea have denied that the manager contacted his staff during the match.

"The normal procedure is that we would have a look at the referee and delegate's report and then also if there is other evidence, such as television images and video evidence, that is something more we could take into account," a Uefa spokesman said.

Mourinho could face further punishment if Uefa concludes that he behaved improperly, though any wrongdoing would be hard to prove. He was given a two-game touchline ban and fined for comments he made about the referee Anders Frisk after a game against Barcelona and fresh details emerged yesterday about what happened at Camp Nou during half-time.

A report filed by Uefa's venue director Pascal Fratellia stated that Frisk ordered Barcelona's coach Frank Rijkaard back to the home dressingroom after the Dutchman had followed him off the pitch and tried to discuss the match. It puts in a new light Mourinho's claims that Rijkaard had sought to influence the official, though his claim that the Dutchman spent time in Frisk's dressingroom was incorrect. Uefa also noted derogatory remarks that Mourinho made about Frisk before it punished him.

Fratellia states in his report: "The referee told us that he had contact with Frank Rijkaard from the pitch to the front of his dressingroom door (closed). Rijkaard wished to say hello to Frisk at the beginning of the tunnel and then tried to talk to him climbing the stairs.

"Frisk told us then that he said to Rijkaard that it was not the moment or the place to speak about any match situation and instructed him when he was in front of his dressingroom door (closed) to go to his dressingroom."

Chelsea were aware of that report before their hearing in Nyon last week, as was the disciplinary panel that punished Mourinho and the club. Frisk reported a similar version of events to Uefa but said he could not understand some of what Rijkaard said.

Fratellia's report disproves Rijkaard's claim that he merely shook Frisk's hand and is likely to have heightened Mourinho's anger at his treatment by the governing body.

Chelsea's captain John Terry will trust that he escapes Uefa's ire after criticising Temmink and accusing Bayern's Michael Ballack of diving, including for the late penalty that gave the German team hope at 4-2. "We worked our socks off to get the 4-1 lead and it's disappointing that we conceded that late goal because of a terrible decision from the referee," he said.