Conte will ‘not forget’ war of words with Mourinho
LONDON: Antonio Conte says he will “not forget” Jose Mourinho’s personal slight about matchfixing, but the Chelsea manager added Tuesday he wants to call a halt to the increasingly bitter dispute with his Manchester United counterpart.
The 48 - year- old Ital ian – who served a four- month ban in Italy in 2012 in relation to a match- fixing scandal but has always denied wrongdoing relating to his time as coach of Siena – said he did not want the League Managers’ Association ( LMA) to intervene.
“He said serious words, he has used serious words.
“And I won’t forget this,” he said ahead of his side’s League Cup semi-final first leg with Arsenal on Wednesday.
“I think it’s not important, the association, you understand. It’s not important.
“This is not a problem for the club, it’s a problem between me and him. Now I stop. Stop.”
Conte – who was acquitted of sporting fraud charges in 2016 over accusations he failed to report episodes of match- fixing while in charge at Serie B side Siena in 2011 – said he had no regrets about his response to Mourinho’s attack.
The former Juventus and Italy coach labelled Mourinho ‘a little man’ over his remarks on match- fixing, and prior to that suggested the Portuguese was su f fering from seni le dementia for forgetting how he used to celebrate wildly on the touchline.
Mourinho had provoked the latter riposte by saying he no longer ‘acts like a clown’ on the touchline which was seen as a barb at both Conte and Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.
“Do I have the look of a person with regret? I don’t think so,” said Conte.
“I think we both said things, and we’ll see what happens in future.” — AFP