JOSE MOURINHO has revealed that he has started wearing a wire to “protect himself”.
The Roma manager made the shock admission following his side’s match against Monza.
In the same comments he also claimed that referee Daniele Chiffi was the “worst” that he had encountered in his career.
The Italian official sent off Mehmet Zeki in the fifth minute of injury time for a second bookable offence during the 1-1 draw.
The result left Mourinho frustrated as Roma’s hopes of European football took a big blow.
And he hit out at the referee after the game and demanded that Chiffi not officiate Roma games in the future.
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The former Manchester United and Chelsea manager also claimed he was wearing a wire for that match so that any interactions he and the official had were recorded.
He said: “I am not stupid, I had to protect myself. Everything is recorded.”
It is not the first run-in Mourinho has had with Chiffi this season.
The former Chelsea and Manchester United manager was sent off by the referee in September after his side were denied a penalty against Atalanta.
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Mourinho also appeared to criticise his own club for not having “the strength” to tell Serie A that they do not want the referee.
He added to DAZN: “This was the worst referee I have encountered in my entire career.
“Believe me, I have dealt with many bad referees. Usually, when I talk about referees, it is because they have a direct influence on the game.
“In this case, I don’t think that is true. But he is horrible. He makes no human connection with anyone, he has no empathy, he gives a red card to a player who slips because he is exhausted at the 96th minute.
“Unfortunately, this too is a sign of Roma’s weakness as a club, because we do not have the strength of other clubs who can say we don’t want this referee.
“I stopped working 20-30 minutes from the end, because I knew he would give me a red card for anything.
“There are clubs that say I don’t want this referee and Roma either don’t have this capability or the DNA or anything else.
“It’s horrible, with the few players I have in my squad, I could not get a red card.”
Roma now sit seventh in the Serie A table, two points behind fourth-placed Inter Milan.
However, the club has a worse goal difference than AC Milan and Atalanta.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk