Rome fans attack referee Taylor at the airport after the Europa League final with Sevilla – Corriere.it

They still aren’t easy hours for Anthony Taylor, the referee who directed the Europa League final between Rome and Sevilla. Between maxi recoveries, extra time and penalty kicks, the match lasted 146′, an eternity for the two teams and also for the English whistle, who has drawn 14 yellow cards (a record for the competition) and who has found himself forced to make much-discussed decisions, including the yellow-reds missing a penalty for Fernando’s handball on Spinazzola’s cross and Lamela missing a red card for elbowing Ibanez. Mourinho, who waited for him in the stadium parking lot, even called him a disgrace.

Graham Taylor AS Roma fans pic.twitter.com/t4L55ipI2D

— I am Jose Mourinho (@lmJoseMourinho) June 1, 2023

Referee Taylor attacked by Roma fans

And moments of tension there were also in the evening at the airport Budapestwhere Taylor — in the company of the family — found himself surrounded by some angry Roma fans, who recognized him and tried to attack him with insults, chants and shoves. The intervention of the police was necessary, who escorted the Englishman to a police room. A series of disturbing videos are circulating on social networks, in which a man is seen grab the race director’s backpack, who in turn is forced to defend himself with his hands (his daughter is visibly frightened, in tears). Not only that, because once Taylor was brought to safety, a fight broke out among the fans themselves, who even threw a chair at each other. (here the video)

The rage of Tiago Pinto: Unbalanced refereeing

For its part, Rome continues to protest. After the controversies of Mourinho (who had waited for the referee in the coach parking lot to yell at him You’re a f… disgrace), the (polite) words of the general manager of the Giallorossi club arrived in the evening, Tiago Pinto: As Roma we do not want to question the merits of Sevilla, we believe that with our opponents we have created a great final, honoring the stage that UEFA offers us in the best possible way. We don’t usually comment on this kind of situation, but today we analyzed both the most striking episodes and those that are apparently less evident and it is clear that the direction of the race from a disciplinary point of view has not been balancedthe words of Portuguese.