Revealed: Jones’ alleged swearing at doping officer
PHIL Jones told a doping control officer that he was a ‘f **** r’ for testing him after the Europa League final in an expletive-filled rant, according to Uefa.
Jones and team-mate Daley Blind were found guilty of breaching the governing body’s doping regulations in Stockholm following United’s 2-0 win over Ajax.
It is understood that Jones was angry to have missed out on a squad photograph taken after the match which paid tribute to those affected by the Manchester terror attack just two days’ previously.
The squad posed with a banner reading ‘Manchester – a city united’ but Jones was not allowed to delay his random test so was not present.
Blind did feature in the photograph and was accompanied by a chaperone for some of the celebrations, but this is not permitted in the Europa League.
Jones was banned for two European matches and fined €5,000, Blind was fined €5,000 and United were fined €10,000 over the rule breaches.
Graham Stringer, MP for Blackley and Broughton, wrote to Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin about the matter three days after the punishments were dealt out and the M.E.N. has seen a copy of Uefa’s reply explaining what they claim happened.
“The first player from Manchester United, Phil Jones, came to the DCS (doping control station) and was very upset that he had to be in the DCS,” Uefa’s head of president office, Luka Zajc, wrote.
“He wanted to leave the DCS to celebrate with the team but I told him that he had to do the sampling first. He then told me I was a f ***** doing this and that I had a f ****** job and how I could be so f ****** stupid to consider having such a f ****** job.
“I told him that this was the Uefa regulations and that my job was to do the control. He still continued to tell me I had a f ****** job and how I even could do that job.
“I then asked him to calm down and stop insulting me and then he said he didn’t want to talk to me any more.”
There is no suggestion that either player was guilty of doping, and Jones gave blood and urine samples to the officials despite his frustration.
Given the poignant circumstances surrounding the event, Zajc claimed that Jones was given a reduced ban.
“I trust that you can understand that, even if a player is frustrated or upset, he has to respect the work of the competition officials who are carrying out doping tests,” he added.
“This is the least we can expect from any professional sportsman.
“For your information, I can further advise that, on a strict application of the rules, the normal sanction imposed for insulting match officials would be a threematch suspension.
“In the circumstances of this particular case, however, the disciplinary body decided to impose a reduced sanction, given the full background elements.”
United appealed against Jones’ ban and asked for special dispensation to play him against Real Madrid in the Super Cup, but that request was rejected by Uefa’s appeals body.