Jose Mourinho has admitted he may be arrested before
today's FA Cup final against Manchester United after refusing to
reveal the whereabouts of his dog. Animal welfare officers have yet
to make checks on the Chelsea manager's Yorkshire terrier, Gullit,
amid concerns about the animal's quarantine status. As Mourinho
prepared for the first Cup final at the new Wembley Stadium, he
spoke of his annoyance at the authorities'
behaviour.
"Maybe I'll be arrested before the Cup final," he said in an
interview for the Portuguese television station TVI. "The dog is on
holiday and will stay on holiday while the people are dishonest and
while they won't forget that I am a foreigner, a public person, and
while they don't treat me as a normal person. "I don't want to
cooperate. Basically they want to quarantine the dog and only then
investigate. I say the dog won't be quarantined. They should
investigate and if it is legal it stays with me. If not they can
take it wherever they want."
Mourinho, who was arrested and released without charge on Tuesday
after police visited his home in London, says he would be willing
to provide the authorities with Gullit's relevant paperwork, but
would not say where the dog was. "If they want they can see where
the dog was bought, the cheque that bought it, all the papers and
all the inoculations, he said. "And after that they can say,
'Mister, you are right'. "Nobody knows where it is, only me. And I
don't want to say where. When a dog with three months of age is the
front page of a newspaper in this country you cannot believe the
things you read."
Sir Alex Ferguson, using a fitting phrase, has warned his
Manchester United players that Chelsea will be like a "wounded
animal" today. He recalled the "feisty" atmosphere when United
played at Stamford Bridge 10 days ago and he believes the deposed
champions will take extra motivation from the fact that they have
just surrendered the league title.
"I am acutely aware that on the one side you have a wounded animal
who have just lost the league and on the other side you have got a
team with confidence," said Ferguson. "I just have to make sure
there is no distinction between the two teams in terms of the
desire to win. I think that will be important." Ferguson feels
United, unlike Chelsea, can play without pressure now they are
champions and he is expected to start with Patrice Evra at
left-back rather than Gabriel Heinze.
