Bournemouth Defender Claims Mourinho Abused Him Over The Zlatan Stamping Incident
Reuters / Andrew Yates
Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings has gone on to speak out about the infamous challenge regarding the incident with Zlatan Ibrahimovic last season in the Premier League.
The English defender, who has been ruled out with a back injury for at least a month in the ongoing season, has stated that he never meant to stamp on Zlatan’s head following a challenge, and that Jose Mourinho went on to abuse him nonetheless.
Mings revealed in an interview with The Guardian that following the incident, the Portuguese manager started to abuse him at the start of the second half.
The player stated: “I realised when [José] Mourinho came over when we were coming out for the start of the second half and started giving me some abuse, saying: ‘You think you’re clever. You’re going to get an eight-match ban.”
Mings was initially elbowed by Zlatan during the match, but he was then accused of stamping the latter’s head after a hefty challenge. The defender did go on to claim several times that he did not mean to do it, and has now stated that he did not even know it would go on to become a big deal.
“I didn’t recognise up until half-time that it was even a big deal. Because I hadn’t meant to do it, I didn’t feel like it would be a talking point,” he added.
The player suffered a five-match ban following the incident, as initially both players were charged for violent conduct over two separate incidents. The 24-year-old, who joined the club in 2015, signed a new four-year deal at the Vitality Stadium last month, and at present, continues to recover from his injury.
Written by Rajdeep Saha 
Sports journalist with stints across print, digital and television. Contribution to each medium has been thrilling. Experienced in writing for this passionate game called football. Journalist by choice and passion.