Jeonbuk Motors head coach Gus Poyet delivered an extraordinary pre-match press conference as the former Tottenham and Chelsea star hit out at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) ahead of Thursday’s AFC Champions League Two showdown with Sydney FC.
South Korean giants and two-time Champions League winners Jeonbuk are in Sydney, looking to overturn a 2-0 first-leg deficit against their Isuzu UTE A-League opponents in the ACL Two quarter-finals.
On the eve of the return clash at Allianz Stadium, retired Uruguay international Poyet exploded in an extraordinary press conference.
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The former Brighton and Hove Albion, Sunderland, Real Betis, AEK Athens, Shanghai Shenhua and Greece boss took aim at the AFC for their decision to move last week’s first leg from their home in Jeonju to Yongin Mireu Stadium outside of Suwon after the pitch was deemed unplayable.
Poyet also vented his frustration with the location of Wednesday’s pre-game press conference in Sydney.
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“So many things happened in these last two games, it’s very difficult for me to analyse everything that’s happened. I’ve never been involved in something like this before. I suppose I keep learning,” he told reporters.
“With some decisions that have been made in these two rounds. Do I like it? No I don’t like it. I think it’s unfair.
“We had to play because nowadays you can’t fight anything. People in power decide what you have to do.
“I’ll say to you with the ultimate respect, this is the first time I’ve done a press conference away from home in the training ground of the opposite team at any level – national team level, UEFA Champions League level, national team with Greece. Very strange. Normally you do it at the stadium.
“They asked me yesterday, I didn’t like it. I don’t think it’s the common thing to do. I don’t know if you do it here in Sydney or Australia, but it doesn’t work like that.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the pitch of Sydney tonight. I’m really looking forward because I wasn’t able to play at home for a really unfair and stupid decision. So I hope the pitch is spot on.”
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Asked if he was unhappy with the change of venue, Poyet replied: “Everything.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen my team play in Bangkok away with a referee from Uzbekistan. Made a decision, I’m not saying it was bad but changed the outcome of the game.
“Then two weeks later you play away in South Korea with a referee from Uzbekistan. Have you seen it before? I haven’t. Nothing happened, the referee was spot on but I’m talking about before. I’ve never seen it. Little things that when they happen too many times, it doesn’t look like a normal competition for me.
“If you don’t say things, it will happen to another team next season. If the Asian Federation wants to play Champions League Two at the highest level or they pay attention to what they do, or they are fair to the decisions they make or it’s not worth it to play it. At the end, you want to play in equal situations and it’s not equal.
“If your pitch tomorrow is worse than our pitch at home, what is the outcome? Why is that fair?”
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When pressed by reporters as to whether he thought the AFC would listen to his comments, Poyet said: “Unfortunately, we don’t speak. Do they listen to you the press? No. So we need to speak.
“We can also speak about VAR. I was an offensive player. I’d like to score a goal, look at the linesman and if the linesman didn’t put the flag up, it was a goal and I could celebrate. The best part of the game.
“What do we do now? We wait four minutes. It’s embarrassing. They’re taking the best part of the game. People sitting somewhere in Malaysia or Zurich with a tie trying to tell us how to play football. That’s wrong.
“They keep doing it and keep complicating the referees. Now the referees have no responsibility whatsoever. They have the power, they like it, they come to you and show power. But they have no responsibility because they do nothing and wait for the guy at the top to tell them what to do.
“The linesman is even worse. They just give the throw-ins. They don’t given an offside ever. Is that the game we want? No we don’t. We want fair like before, 50-50. Then you win, you’re better.
“Listen, Sydney beat us and were better than us on the day. Nothing to do with the referee but it’s not 50-50 this qualification round.
“It’s happening too many things. Why? Because a guy who travelled from Indonesia. I don’t know if you’ve been to Jeonju – you need to go Seoul and drive three hours and it was very cold. He probably thought do I want someone from the AFC, the commissioner to come here, no I make a report and we play somewhere near Seoul because our pitch is in perfect condition to play.
“Not top level like Europe but in perfect condition and we weren’t able to play at home because one guy didn’t want to travel, it was too cold. That’s the truth.
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“I like to play 50-50. You beat me, you’re better than me, I shake hands with the coach, it was a great game. I learned a lot about Sydney FC on the day but I want to play fair and it’s not fair.
“This (press conference) is not fair. You wouldn’t be able to do this today to a top manager in Europe. No because I train at 6pm tonight and 5:15pm is the press conference. That’s the real thing. The rest is arranged by someone who doesn’t move twice but makes us move twice. Now we have to go back to the hotel and in three hours come back to the stadium because of someone who isn’t involved in football.
“From the Asian Federation, it’s not professional. It’s not normal. I’ve never been in another opposition training ground (for a press conference). I’m 57, I’m getting old and it’s the first time. People say maybe it happens.
“Imagine the first leg, I don’t train in Yongin you know where we play? I don’t train in the stadium and I decide to train in Jeonju in the morning and I say to you, boys the press conference is in Jeonju and you need to drive three hours. You and your coach, would you? No, thank you very much. Why here yes? Because someone decided who doesn’t understand the rules of football to be fair.
“I love this part, eh? I’m not upset. I love this Sydney. I came here a long time ago when Uruguay lost to Australia. As soon as I left Sydney, I said I can live here easily. This is a beautiful place to live. It’s amazing.
“We’re talking about the other side of football, the side I don’t like. The politics, the decision makers of people who don’t understand football, who don’t have a clue. We pay for it, the fans pay for it, our fans pay for it. You know how many people in the first leg? 2,500 in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. It’s not worth it.”
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Poyet added: “I’m not upset. I wanted to say this because I thought it was important.
“My wife says to me sometimes, ‘why always you?’. I say because it’s the way I am. I cannot hold it. There’s a moment you have to say things.
“We have too many people these days who hide behind a phone and they don’t say it. They’re afraid, it’s crazy, he is talking too much. I’m not crazy, I have common sense. Everything in my life, I use common sense. When common sense goes against me, I use common sense. I’m not picking and choosing, I’m being honest with you.
“Nothing to do with the 11-v-11, football pitch, 2-0. Nothing to do with that. I’m talking about the outside of football. I think we can get better if we use common sense.”
