Roma boss Jose Mourinho has come in for criticism from FIFPRO as a result of his treatment of Rick Karsdorp and accused the manager of spearheading a 'mobbing campaign' against the player.
The Giallorossi boss claimed that Karsdorp had "betrayed his teammates" and publicly slammed the Dutchman for a "poor attitude". The Netherlands international has since been frozen out of the squad, with Mourinho openly telling the media he has told Karsdorp to start looking for another club to join in January.
Initially, Mourinho was reluctant to name and shame Karsdop, telling reporters after a 1-1 draw against Sassuolo last month that his side's efforts were scuppered by one player.
" It was a team that wanted to win against a tough opponent, I am sorry that the efforts of the team were betrayed by the attitude of one unprofessional player," the former Chelsea boss revealed in cryptic fashion.
"He betrayed all the others. I didn't talk about [Roger] Ibanez against Lazio like that, because the attitude was top. His mistake is part of the game. But the unprofessional and incorrect attitude that is not fair to his teammates, that is what disappoints me."
Mourinho didn't stop there, doubling down by adding: "I had 16 players on the pitch today, I liked the attitude of 15 of them.
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"The other player, I won't say who it is, I didn’t like and I said so. He betrayed everyone else's effort. In January, he needs to find himself another club.
In response, professional football players’ union FIFPRO have issued a strong statement of their own in defence of Karsdorp. It read: "FIFPRO strongly condemns AS Roma’s treatment of Rick Karsdorp, who in recent weeks has been the victim of a mobbing campaign.
"Karsdorp has been accused in public of being a “traitor”, a hurtful and baseless term that club management has failed to address or apologise for, and fans have repeatedly used to confront him and his family. Furthermore, he has been made the subject of an unjustified disciplinary case.
"These acts apparently are a way to deflect from the club’s poor recent performances and aimed to put unjustified pressure on the player. Such behaviour is incompatible with the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players.
"Rick Karsdorp has the full support of both FIFPRO and Dutch players’ union VVCS."
Director of the VVCS and FIFPRO board member Louis Everard actually controversially implied Mourinho's treatment of Karsdorp may have been a distraction tactic to divert eyes from Roma's stuttering form.
"It is obviously not the first time that we hear about players being used as scapegoats to deflect the attention from the performance and management of clubs. It is not acceptable for a club to isolate one player and treat him differently from his team-mates."
