London: Jose Mourinho has admitted to being “surprised” Mike Riley chose to apologise to West Bromwich Albion for the award of a stoppage-time penalty at Stamford Bridge this month and has suggested the head of Professional Game Match Officials Ltd had set a dangerous precedent.

Riley telephoned the West Brom manager, Steve Clarke, in the wake of Andre Marriner’s decision to penalise Steven Reid for what he believed had been a foul on Ramires in the game at Stamford Bridge on November 9.

That apology was revealed, and accepted, by Clarke, though Riley has also since indicated publicly that the official “should have played on” following the 94th-minute coming together inside the penalty area. As it was, Eden Hazard converted the penalty and secured Chelsea’s 2-2 draw.

“I’m surprised but maybe the people who are surprised are old-fashioned and maybe these are new times,” said Mourinho before Saturday’s trip to West Ham.

“Maybe, from now on, Mr Riley is going to do the same with every other club and manager. If that’s the situation, let’s welcome new times. I’m very curious to know if it was just an isolated phone call. I’m interested to know if that was the start and, from now on, it’ll be the same for everybody. I’m very curious to know, and to know the consequences of it.

“At least the referees now know one thing: if [there is] a controversial decision, and I’m not saying a ‘mistake’, that hypothetically — and, I repeat, hypothetically — favours Chelsea, they know they are going to be publicly exposed by their boss. That they know. They can make — hypothetically — mistakes favouring other teams [and] nothing happens.

“I’m curious to know if Steve Bruce got a phone call. I’m interested to know if Chris Hughton got a phone call. I’m interested to know if [Michael] Laudrup got a phone call. Nobody called me to apologise about the fact that it was not a free-kick against West Bromwich just before their second goal, or the penalty at Everton that would have been 1-1 for us. I don’t know if Paul Lambert got a phone call. I don’t know.”

The Swansea manager, Laudrup, has confirmed he spoke with Riley in the wake of Robert Madley’s award of a late penalty for Stoke at the Liberty Stadium, though opted against making the details of the call public.

Riley has made himself available to managers to discuss contentious incidents, a policy encouraged by PGMOL and the League Managers’ Association, though the implication of Mourinho’s words was that the apology may now dissuade referees from making “controversial” decisions that favour Chelsea.

The Portuguese remains adamant that Reid fouled Ramires, therefore justifying Marriner’s decision at the time. The draw with West Brom had ended with visiting players making their frustration clear out on the pitch and Mourinho exchanging angry words with their Swedish centre-half, Jonas Olsson, in the tunnel as the sides retreated at full-time. The Chelsea manager described that altercation as “insignificant” but was critical of the player for exposing details of the argument.

“Giant players, giant coaches and giant clubs don’t speak about what happens in the tunnel,” he said. “The game is the game. The game had finished. In the tunnel, sometimes, a couple of things happen. A couple of words. Not aggressions. Nothing. But giant clubs, giant players and giant managers close their mouth. The next day is another day.”

— Guardian News and Media 2013