English referee Anthony Taylor was confronted by fans after the Europa League 2022-23 final between Sevilla and AS Roma. The Los Nervionenses won the title on penalties after the game ended at 1-1 after regulation. But throughout the game, there were many questionable calls including a possible penalty after a Sevilla handball.
The match saw 14 yellow cards, the most ever in a Europa League fixture because of which the teams had to play almost 30 minutes of stoppage time in total. Hence as Taylor tried to board his flight from Budapest Airport, he was met with countless abuses and harassment from Roma fans, who were unhappy with his officiating. Some fans took things a step too far as people were seen throwing chairs and water at the Englishman.
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Like the AS Roma supporters, the Italian side’s manager Jose Mourinho expressed his discontent towards Anthony Taylor and the overall referring of the final. While speaking in the press conference, Mourinho said, “It was an intense, masculine, vibrant game with a referee who seemed Spanish. It was yellow, yellow, yellow all the time. We are accustomed to the influence of referees in our games, it’s nothing new, but I didn’t expect it in a European final.”
The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL), English top-tier referees association, released a statement in support of Anthony Taylor and deemed these actions as ‘unjustified and abhorrent’. The statement said: “We are appalled at the unjustified and abhorrent abuse directed at Anthony and his family as he tries to make his way home from refereeing the UEFA Europa League final. We will continue to provide our full support to Anthony and his family,” the referees association added.
