English football referee Anthony Taylor and his family were caught up in a shocking attack by angry fans at an airport. Taylor, 44, was heading back from Budapest when violence broke out.
The referee, from Manchester, had officiated an ill-tempered Europa League final between Roma and Sevilla, which the Italian side lost on penalties. It is thought angry Roma fans then lost their temper upon seeing him heading home with his family on Thursday.
Taylor, 44, was labelled a "f****** disgrace" by Roma boss Jose Mourinho in the car park of the Puskas Arena. Mourinho's side felt aggrieved after being denied a penalty in the second half with the scores at 1-1, the Mirror reports.
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Aside from their fury at the non-handball, Roma's players, substitutes and coaching staff spent much of the night hounding Taylor and fourth official Michael Oliver, with an incensed Mourinho even being booked. Footage emerged after the game of the ex- Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham manager shouting at Taylor's officiating team and bellowing: "It's a f****** disgrace, man."
On Thursday, Taylor continued to face abuse when a group of Roma fans blasted the ref, who had to be protected by police as he made his way through to a safe area.
The PGMOL, the body for Premier League officials, later released a statement, reading: "PGMOL is aware of videos circulating on social media showing Anthony Taylor and his family being harassed and abused at Budapest Airport. We are appalled at the unjustified and abhorrent abuse directed at Anthony and his family as he tries to make his way home from refereeing the UEFA Europa League final. We will continue to provide our full support to Anthony and his family."
Mourinho had also slammed Taylor in his post-match press conference, saying that he "seemed Spanish" after showing Roma a total of eight yellow cards - two for men who weren't on the pitch. "It was an intense, vibrant game with a referee who seemed Spanish," Mourinho claimed. "It was yellow, yellow, yellow all the time."
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It was indeed an intense match, with Sevilla being shown five yellow cards themselves. But Taylor, a highly-rated official by UEFA, was praised by former Premier League referee Mark Halsey for his 'exceptional' performance.
"You can't condone the actions of Jose Mourinho, the Roma players and the Sevilla players," Halsey began when speaking to talkSPORT. "I think their behaviour was absolutely appalling. That's going around the world and young children are seeing these babies, the way they act and surround the referee – it was impossible for Anthony Taylor to control.
"I really thought the [refereeing] team did exceptionally well to keep 22 players on the field of play and Anthony refereed the game exceptionally well under extreme pressure from players and team officials. It's difficult in that situation because if you start handing out early yellow cards and sending players off, people will say the referee has ruined the game.
"Referees do not want to send players off, they can only referee to the way players behave, and their behaviour was appalling. They knew what they were doing, Anthony was aware of it and it makes it so difficult for a referee to control a game like that. I felt really sorry for him. You cannot blame the officials, it's solely down to the players and the coaches.
"I really do hope UEFA charge both clubs, they have to, otherwise it'll just continue."
