Jose Mourinho forced to deny TV claim he is leaving Real Madrid

Posted Wednesday, August 24, 2011 by theguardian.com

• Mourinho agent retracts comments and blames subterfuge
• Portuguese feels isolated after shame of Camp Nou

Real Madrid's José Mourinho has been the victim of a vindictive hoax, according to his spokesman.

José Mourinho stood at the centre of yet another controversy on Tuesday when the Portuguese manager was forced to deny he was about to leave Real Madrid despite his official spokesman supposedly suggesting he was unhappy and planning to quit.

Eladio Paramés, who speaks on Mourinho's behalf, was earlier reported to have told a Spanish TV station, via text message, that Mourinho was to walk away. Yet he quickly denied the quotes with the somewhat unconvincing explanation that an imposter had been using his mobile phone.

Picking through the rubble as the fallout continued into the afternoon, it was not clear if this was a genuine misunderstanding, a sneaky plot, or a moment's indiscretion come back to haunt the Portuguese manager's camp, yet it still prompted Mourinho into making a statement on the club's website. "There is no way I'm leaving. No way," he said.

Canal+ TV broke the news in the morning. It cited text messages from Paramés's phone, sent as the channel sought to arrange an interview with the Real Madrid manager. According to the broadcaster, the messages said Mourinho felt that he did not have the backing of the Madrid board of directors and, pending meetings with them, was contemplating a press conference to announce his resignation. The channel said it had been given permission by Paramés to release the information – this was not an off-the-record briefing but something Mourinho's camp wanted in the public sphere.

The revelation came in the aftermath of the Spanish Super Cup defeat to Barcelona, during which Mourinho poked the Barça assistant coach Tito Vilanova in the eye. The Spanish Football Federation's disciplinary committee has confirmed it will investigate the events at Camp Nou and that Mourinho may face a ban of four to 12 games or six to 15, depending on which of two possible charges is brought against him.

Since the Super Cup, Mourinho has been the focus of strong criticism from the media and Barcelona officials. Madrid's president, Florentino Pérez, has stayed silent, choosing neither to defend his coach nor censor his actions.

In the aftermath of that match, the Spanish newspaper Marca claimed that Mourinho was "sorry" for what had happened – the story had come via a briefing from the club's presidency. On Sunday, though, Paramés said Mourinho had nothing to be sorry for. On Tuesday morning Paramés appeared to be suggesting that, far from saying sorry, the Portuguese felt unprotected and was set to walk away.

Soon after, however, Paramés complained that the mobile from which the text message was sent was a pay-as-you-go phone that he had bought soon after Mourinho joined Madrid, but which he had stopped using. He said he had left the phone in a drawer and that someone must have used the number and pretended to be Mourinho's spokesman.The question now is what was behind this bizarre series of events. Had Paramés, not for the first time, spoken out of turn and then been forced to into a desperate act of damage limitation? Was this a clever ploy to force Madrid's hand, sow the idea that he is not happy, and seek to provoke the fans' support at Wednesday night's Santiago Bernabéu trophy?

Or had someone really taken Paramés's mobile from his house, pretended to be Mourinho's official spokesman and exchanged text messages with Canal Plus?

Letter from José Mourinho

"Only those who don't know me can dream, make up or believe I may leave Real Madrid at this stage…

"I believe many people were surprised by the quality football showcased by Real Madrid during the preseason and it would be surprising news to them if I left the club now. Impossible!

"I have a fantastic president who is very intelligent and with whom I have a great friendship. I also have a director general who works for the club 24 hours a day, so my motivation is enormous and my Madridismo is even greater than that of some pseudo-Madridistas…

"There is no way I'm leaving. No way!

"I also wish to apologise to Madridistas, and only to them, for my attitude in our last game. Some people are better adapted to the hypocrisy in football than I am, and they hide their faces and speak in whispers deep inside tunnels.

"I'm not learning to be a hypocrite, and I don't want to.

Best wishes to all. We'll see each other tomorrow at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium."