Jose Mourinho: Arsene Wenger Entitled To Refuse Handshake

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho says he has no problem with Arsene Wenger for failing to shake his hand after the Community Shield on Sunday.

Much was made of the incident in the media, but Mourinho says that if he did not want to shake hands with an opponent, he would do the same as the Arsenal manager.

Speaking to Sky Sports News HQ at the Premier League launch, Mourinho said: “I don’t want to make a story of it. If you walk in the street you are not obliged to say hello or shake your hand with anyone.

“In a sport team or institution it’s a bit different. I thought about my club and players and the winners and the stadium but I don’t think a manager has to shake hands with another if he doesn’t want to.”

Mourinho has welcomed a new crackdown on poor behaviour from managers on the touchline. The Premier League’s officials and club managers held a meeting on Tuesday in which they were told poor behaviour and squabbling amongst each other in technical areas will no longer be tolerated.

Mourinho said: “I agree totally with the new measures. I was last season without incident with the fourth official and I agree with behaviour being respectable in the technical area.”

Referring to a previous incident between himself and Wenger in which Mourinho was pushed on the touchline by the Frenchman, the Blues boss said: “It is difficult to be pushed by the opposition manager in my technical area and he is not punished.”

The champions kick-off their campaign against Swansea this weekend and Mourinho also spoke at length about the threat posed by teams across the Premier League.

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