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UEFA President Lennart Johansson, who visited the capital of England seeking support in elections for UEFA leaders, spoke about strict penalties for clubs like London's Chelsea who exceed the permissible limit.
The current English champions face a hefty fine from the European football governing body UEFA for receiving 6 yellow cards during Tuesday's Champions League match against the Spanish team Barcelona.
According to competition rules, a team whose players receive 5 or more yellow or red cards during a single match is fined. However, L. Johansson admits that this is not a deterrent for well-funded clubs like Chelsea.
"I don't believe in financial penalties, as Chelsea has a lot of money, they will pay and that's it. This should be resolved in a different way," explained L. Johansson in an interview with the Sunday Mirror journalist.
"It's like a crime - when it happens for the first time, it is overlooked, but if the crime is repeated, the punishment becomes tougher. Sometimes we are not strict enough," continued the UEFA President.
The 76-year-old L. Johansson claimed to be disappointed with the criticism of refereeing by the coach of the capital team Jose Mourinho: "Mourinho has a duty to respect the game and not behave like a child. He makes a statement as if he were a person promised candy but didn't receive it."
The Swede was also unhappy with the policy pursued by Chelsea's owner, whereby the team is made up of football stars from various countries: "I have to wait for laws to be enacted that will try to return to the initial situation, when everyone was happy, when there was a balance between foreign and domestic players with citizenship."
"And more and more clubs and their coaches are doing the same. Is what Chelsea is doing wrong? I think so. But at the same time, I cannot blame them for an activity that is not prohibited by law," expressed L. Johansson with concern.
