Mourinho will fight ban ´to the end´

Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka claims Jose Mourinho is yet to be informed of the reasons behind a five-match UEFA ban.

Head coach Mourinho, 48, was given the suspension by football’s European governing body after being dismissed from the touchline in the first leg of Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final with Barcelona on April 27.

The Portuguese then issued inflammatory comments in the wake of the 2-0 home defeat, accusing UEFA of bias in favour of Barcelona.

Speaking ahead of Real’s La Liga match against Sevilla on Saturday, Karanka confirmed that Mourinho intended to appeal the suspension and would not be speaking to the media until an explanation was forthcoming from UEFA.

“When you receive a sanction like that you never receive it well and more so if you don’t know the reason for the sanction,” Karanka said.

“The club have already announced they are going to appeal and, on a personal level, Mourinho is going to defend himself and he will fight to the end.”

“As things stand today, UEFA haven’t communicated the reason for the sanctions against the coach.”

“The idea is that, until it’s specified or a concrete reason given, Mourinho will not speak at a press conference,” Karanka added.

“(Mourinho) feels he is being totally backed by the club and is proud that everyone at the club and the fans are supporting him.”

“We know what we’ve done well and what we’ve done badly, what we’re allowed to do and what we’re not.”

Mourinho has already served one match of the ban in the semi-final second leg at Camp Nou last Wednesday.

With a further match of the sentence suspended by UEFA, he is set to sit out the first three games of next season’s Champions League group stage.