Chelsea sack Mourinho after disastrous start to season Portuguese leaves club by mutual consent

Platini has the strong support of a number of national soccer associations, especially in Europe. Instead of being three times as likely to become FIFA president as not, Platini was now likelier than not to lose out. Platini, a former French midfielder and head of European soccer body UEFA since 2007, had been “odds on” favourite to succeed Blatter when FIFA elects its new leader in five months, meaning he was seen as likelier to get the job than not. One rambling answer after Chelsea lost to Southampton lasted seven minutes while on other occasions he was mono-syllabic.

• The squad is virtually identical to the one that dominated last season’s Premier League and won the League Cup.
• Few could have foreseen Chelsea’s decline this season, especially as Mourinho was rewarded for the title with a new four-year contract in August.
• Instead of being three times as likely to become FIFA president as not, Platini was now likelier than not to lose out.
• Acknowledged as the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history, and claiming they would not find anyone better, he retained the affection of many fans to the end but crucially seemed to have lost some of the dressing room.

A year on and Chelsea are 20 points behind the east Midlands outfit and their title hopes, if not their top-four ambitions, have been extinguished before Christmas. When Chelsea beat Porto last week to reach the last 16 of the Champions League it seemed he had bought himself time, but defeat by Leicester put the club’s demise into sharp focus. Opposing fans have taunted Mourinho with chants of “You’re not special any more” — a cheeky reference to his opening statement when he first joined the club from Porto in 2004. The squad is virtually identical to the one that dominated last season’s Premier League and won the League Cup.

“It would be ideal to have a president who would step down after two years,” Swiss criminal law professor Mark Pieth, who previously headed FIFA’s independent governance committee, told Swiss broadcaster SRF. If he stands for president, Platini must also face an integrity test conducted by Borbely’s committee. However, if he himself were to become the target of an investigation by FIFA’s ethics body, he could be suspended, making it impossible to stand. Acknowledged as the most successful manager in Chelsea’s history, and claiming they would not find anyone better, he retained the affection of many fans to the end but crucially seemed to have lost some of the dressing room. He was welcomed back as a returning hero in 2013 after spells at Inter Milan, where he again won the Champions League, and Real Madrid and delivered a third Premier League title, but this season has been the worst of his career.

Chelsea sack Mourinho after disastrous start to season – Portuguese leaves club by ‘mutual consent’

Dutchman Guus Hiddink is the bookmakers’ favourite to take over as interim manager, having done so successfully in 2009 when Chelsea fired Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari. “The club wishes to make clear Jose leaves us on good terms and will always remain a much-loved, respected and significant figure at Chelsea.” “But both Jose and the board agreed results have not been good enough this season and believe it is in the best interests of both parties to go our separate ways.

Chelsea sack Mourinho after disastrous start to season – Portuguese leaves club by ‘mutual consent’

People who are placed under investigation may or may not be suspended, depending on the circumstances. Several media outlets have speculated that FIFA could launch its own investigation into Platini, Blatter or both, potentially resulting in a provisional suspension that might coincide with the election for a new FIFA boss. The OAG said Blatter, who has been FIFA president since 1998, was suspected of making a “disloyal payment” of 2 million Swiss francs ($2.04 million) to Platini in 2011.

While thrashings by Manchester City and Liverpool were chastening, it was defeats by less glamorous clubs like Leicester, Southampton, West Ham United, Stoke City and modest Bournemouth that led to a sense of crisis. Mourinho’s special relationship with Chelsea began when, fresh from Champions League success at Porto, he won back-to-back Premier League titles plus the League Cup and FA Cup, before falling out with Abramovich and leaving in 2007. “I have never known players to perform like they did last season and then be so bad now. “I’ve never known a capitulation like it from a football club,” former England striker and now BBC pundit Alan Shearer said as news of Mourinho’s sacking spread.

A spokesman for FIFA’s chief ethics investigator Cornel Borbely would not comment on whether either man would become the target of an investigation, but said the committee had the power to investigate anyone in global soccer regardless of position. Chelsea have lost the same number of league games this term as they did in wiki the three seasons from 2004 to 2007. When seven soccer officials and sports marketing executives were arrested in Zurich in May after being indicted in the United States on corruption charges, they were provisionally suspended by the ethics committee the same day. After 16 games last season Chelsea had lost once and had 39 points while Leicester were bottom on 10. “His three league titles, FA Cup, Community Shield and three League Cup wins over two spells make him the most successful manager in our 110-year history. “All at Chelsea thank Jose for his immense contribution since he returned as manager in the summer of 2013,” a statement on the club’s website () said.

Few could have foreseen Chelsea’s decline this season, especially as Mourinho was rewarded for the title with a new four-year contract in August. A club statement said Chelsea and the 52-year-old Portuguese had parted company by “mutual consent” seven months after he led them to the title by an eight-point margin. FIFA should appoint an interim leader to replace embattled president Sepp Blatter to make reforms and steer it out of its massive corruption scandal, a former FIFA reform chief said Sunday. Any request for a provisional suspension has to be approved by Hans-Joachim Eckert, a online casinos kuwait Munich-based judge who is responsible for deciding on sanctions when the FIFA ethics code is violated.