Avram Grant insists he has no regrets over referee outburst

Posted Saturday, February 13, 2010 by theguardian.com

Avram Grant insists he has no regrets over referee outburst
Avram Grant confronts referee Keith Friend during Portsmouth's 1-1 draw with Sunderland on Tuesday.

Avram Grant says Portsmouth are falling victim to unfair refereeing decisions because they are an "easy" target and says he has no regrets over the confrontation with referee Kevin Friend that led to him receiving an improper conduct charge.

The Portsmouth manager was charged by the Football Association on Thursday after being sent to the stands during his team's 1-1 draw with Sunderland on Tuesday for comments he made to Friend after the official had rejected appeals for two penalties from the home side .

"Sometimes when teams are struggling it is a bit easy to give decisions against them. This is a fact," Grant said. "Sometimes psychologically it is easy – I can show you. For the last few games there have been decisions that have not gone our way.

"We cannot say football is a passionate game [only for] the supporters, the players and the media. When I show passion and say something to the referee that is reasonable, but he does not accept it. I apologised if I said anything personal to him [Friend] but I did not swear and I do not regret what I did. Football is a passionate game."

Passion will be in abundance at lunchtime today when Portsmouth make the trip west along the M27 to face Southampton for a place in the FA Cup sixth round. Hampshire police have drafted in more than 260 officers for the game at St Mary's and the city's pubs will shut for two hours after the match to ease the threat of any potential trouble between supporters.

Grant has witnessed some of the world's most hostile derbies between clubs such as Boca Juniors and River Plate, and Fenerbahce and Galatasaray, but believes an encounter between English rivals eclipses those ties for fervour. "When there are two teams from the same area it makes for a big game. I do not want to say it is a war but there is a lot of passion," he said. "I have been to big derbies in Buenos Aires, Milan and Turkey but the atmosphere here is bigger. Since the draw was made everyone has been talking about this game 24/7. We will need a strong referee."