Rijkaard caught out over Frisk
The Barcelona tunnel row took a sensational new twist today when it emerged that Frank Rijkaard approached Anders Frisk three times during half-time of their Champions League clash with Chelsea.
Standard Sport can today reveal the precise sequence of events from that controversial night in the Nou Camp in February, which put Chelsea's complaints about Rijkaard in a totally different light.
Rijkaard has maintained he merely shook Frisk's hand and UEFA initially insisted there was nothing to investigate, but the report from venue director, Pascal Fratellia, paints a different picture. Fratellia went into Frisk's dressing room after the game and the Swede gave him a full debrief, telling him:
- Rijkaard met him at the foot of the Nou Camp immediately after the half-time whistle and, as the Dutchman claimed, welcomed him to Barcelona.
- Rijkaard pursued him up the stairs in an animated manner, during which time Frisk said he couldn't understand what the Barcelona coach was talking about.
In his report to UEFA Fratellia, writes: "Frisk told us that he said to Rijkaard, 'It is not the moment to speak about match situations' and told him when he was in front of his (the referee's) dressing room to go back to his (Barcelona's) dressing room."
Steve Clarke witnessed the entire exchange apart from the period when Rijkaard passed out of view beyond the glass doors.
When he returned Chelsea's assistant manager incorrectly assumed the Barcelona coach had been in the referee's dressing room, passing on the information to Jose Mourinho and leading to a public war of words between Chelsea, Barcelona and UEFA in which the London club were accused of telling lies.
Chelsea were found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute and Mourinho handed a two-match touchline ban but the UEFA report essentially backs their claims.
Meanwhile, Chelsea were today cleared by UEFA of using dirty tricks to keep in contact with their banned manager.
The club's fitness coach Rui Faria was pictured holding a hand to his ear under a wooly hat before passing hand-written notes to assistant managers Baltemar Brito and Steve Clarke during last night's game.
But UEFA said today they would not be taking the matter any further.
Media officer Hans Hultman said: "There's nothing to investigate. Chelsea have done nothing wrong."
