Mourinho denies insulting referee during draw with Spurs

LONDON, Mar 12 (Reuters) Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho has denied swearing at match referee Mike Riley in their 3-3 FA Cup quarter-final draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

Mourinho had an exchange with Riley at halftime in yesterday's game, with his team trailing 3-1, and was also shown on television appearing to use a Portuguese swear word during the second half.

''I approached him at halftime, in a polite way, and told him what I thought,'' he told reporters. ''But I think it worked in another way because the second half was worse than the first half.

''We were both polite and there was no confrontation.'' Mourinho was unhappy with Riley's refereeing of what was a thrilling tie at Stamford Bridge, believing too many first-half decisions had gone against the Premier League champions.

''I'm not saying it had a big influence on the result, not big decisions, but too many free kicks and big frustration for the players and it breaks the intensity of the game and we are not happy.'' As for using the swear word, Mourinho said: ''If you listen to me speaking, I tell these kinds of words 10 times in every 15 words.

''I tell this to myself when I am not happy with something, I tell it to my players, I tell it when the ball hits the post. I can be emotional but polite.

''But I don't want to be offensive with anyone.'' Spurs manager Martin Jol also said he was unhappy with aspects of Riley's performances especially the bookings handed to Young-pyo Lee and Paul Stalteri.

''I don't get on with Riley so will have to leave it,'' he said.

''I told him not to be influenced by the crowd at half-time but he gave two bookings straight away. I don't complain about referees though, its an awful job.'' The replay will be held at White Hart Lane on March 19.

REUTERS DH HS1610