Both the player and his manager directed their anger at the governing bodies following the final whistle in Italy. Vinicius expressed his bewilderment at the late notice, stating: “I only heard about it at the stadium. I think the ban came at a bad time. They had all day to announce the suspension and just as I get to the stadium, I get the message that I’m going to miss four La Liga games.”
The Brazilian attacker also claimed a lack of communication regarding disciplinary guidelines. “I don’t understand why,” he added. “The truth is that the rule is new. They’ve never explained this to us. Someone from LaLiga always comes in, or from whatever the refereeing organisation is called, to explain the new rules to us. But this time, this specific thing, nobody told us about it.”
Mourinho echoed his forward’s sentiments,launching a scathing attack on the federation’s conduct. The Portuguese tactician questioned the necessity of delivering the verdict immediately before a crucial European fixture.
“Couldn’t they do it tomorrow morning?” Mourinho asked reporters. “They do things shamelessly now. The cat is out of the bag now. Two hours before the match, a player must know he has a four-match suspension. You want to kill a player two hours before the match? It doesn’t seem normal to me.”