KEY POINTS:
Jose Mourinho is about to discover whether referee Mike Riley regards "industrial language" as part of soccer or a punishable offence.
The Chelsea manager admitted calling the referee "puta", which translates as "son of a whore" during yesterday's dramatic 3-3 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in their FA Cup
quarter-final at Stamford Bridge.
If Riley includes the Portuguese insult in his report on the match, Mourinho can expect to receive a heavy fine and/or a touchline ban.
Mourinho's outburst came as his team fought their way back from a 3-1 half-time deficit to force a replay.
Afterwards, he laughed off the jibe, which might colloquially be translated more accurately as "son of a bitch".
David Beckham was dismissed for using the Spanish equivalent to a linesman early in his career, but Mourinho said it was not meant to be insulting when he used it.
He claimed he had directed it at his players, even the ball, many times in a match.
"If you have a microphone on the dug-out you will hear me use it 20 times," he said.
"I say it to myself when I'm not happy with something, to my players, when the ball hits the post. I say it 50 times in training. I do not want to be offensive with anybody. I can be emotional but I am polite."
Mourinho did not look polite when he raged at Riley early in the second half and, reportedly, also confronted the Leeds official in the tunnel at half-time - an encounter which Tottenham manager Martin Jol was said to also have joined.
Mourinho said: "In my opinion he gave too many decisions against us. I'm not saying that had a big influence on the result, or they were big decisions, but every free-kick in midfield was against Chelsea.
"I approached him and told him that. We were polite. It was not a confrontation. He said, 'Just let me do my work'."
Mourinho added ruefully: "It did not work. The second half was worse."
Jol had the same experience, which suggests Riley was his own man.
Mourinho's outburst owed much to his anger at Riley's performances in two Chelsea matches this season.
Against Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in September, the visitors' Mohamed Sissoko escaped being sent off for tripping Frank Lampard. Michael Ballack was then sent off for hacking down Sissoko.
Riley was also in charge of Chelsea's infamous match at Reading the following month, in which Petr Cech's skull was fractured.
"He is a good referee," Mourinho said. "I hope the next time we have him things go back to normal."
The next occasion will probably be the March 19 replay. Mourinho claimed the momentum will be with Chelsea.
"At half-time they had everything in their hands and we had everything lost," he said. "We were out of the competition. We had enough desire, enough belief."
Goals from Dimitar Berbatov and Hossam Ghaly and an own goal by Michael Essien gave Tottenham the halftime lead as they looked to end a 17-year drought at Stamford Bridge.
But Frank Lampard's second goal of the match after 71 minutes gave Chelsea a lifeline and substitute Salomon Kalou volleyed the equaliser four minutes from time.
In the day's other quarter-finals, Blackburn Rovers beat Manchester City 2-0, and battling premier league club Watford won away from home at championship side Plymouth Argyle 1-0, thanks to a fine strike after 22min by Hamuer Boauzza.
The semifinal draw was being made overnight.
Manchester United and Middlesbrough must also replay after a 2-2 draw on Sunday.
- AGENCIES
