Sorry says Jose

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Manuel Jose

AHLI'S head coach Manuel Jose has apologised for his behaviour during his team's league match against Haras Al-Hedoud. However, he was fined 50,000 LE by the Egyptian Football Association.

Objecting to decisions by the referee, the Portuguese began to strip, taking off his jacket and waving it around before starting to unbutton his shirt. He was dismissed by Nasser Abbas and was forced to watch the remainder of the match from the stands.

"Ahli's players have been subjected to rough play from rivals who deliberately want to harm," Jose, who recently protested against Egyptian referees, said. " Hence, we had 10 players who had to be operated on this season," Jose said in a press conference after the match. "I reacted this way because I'm fed up with the way Ahli players are treated on the pitch. They get no protection from referees.

"I completely forgot the fact that I'm working in a country where some values are of more significance than my own. When all's said and done, I have to respect such principles and traditions," he added.

Jose's actions came after a yellow card was given to Tunisian defender Anis Boujelben and Flavio was ruled offside, decisions Jose felt were unfair.

Jose has been in hot water before, making an obscene gesture with his arm in an African Champions League contest in the summer. But his latest eruption was completely unexpected, especially since his side were three goals up at the time. Ahli eventually won 4-0.

"After reviewing my actions in Friday's game, which was the result of the severe injustice on behalf of the referee towards my players, I believe that they were highly inappropriate," Jose said.

"I apologise to Egypt's fans as a whole and Ahli fans in particular for my actions."

photo: Sayed Abdel-Qader