Jose Mourinho has denied swearing at referee Mike Riley in the players' tunnel at half-time during Chelsea's 3-3 FA Cup quarter-final draw with Tottenham at Stamford Bridge.
Mourinho was asked afterwards if he had used the Portuguese word 'puta' - which translates as whore - when speaking to Riley but insisted there had been no confrontation.
'I approached the referee at half-time, always in a polite way,' said the Chelsea boss. 'That's the way I do it, when I do it. But it worked in another way because the second half was worse than the first.
'He replied by asking me to let him do his work, that kind of stuff. I am polite, he was polite. There were no confrontation problems. If you listen to me speaking, I say the kind of word you mention 10 times in every 15 words.
'If you have a microphone on the dugout I say that during the game 20 times easy. The word can be abusive if you understand it as an abusive word.
'I tell the word to my players and myself when I am not happy. It is something I say when the ball hits the post. I say it 50 times in a game, 50 times in training and I don't want to be offensive.
'I can be emotional but I am polite. I never want to be offensive with somebody. It is the same word I use to criticise the ball when it goes out.'
Mourinho admitted that there had been controversy in all the Chelsea matches where Riley has been officiating this season.
'In my opinion he gave too many decisions against us. I don't think they were big decisions. But every free-kick in midfield was against Chelsea. I am not saying they had a big influence on the result, I am not saying that. But too many free-kicks is a big frustration for the players. It breaks the intensity of the game and we are not happy. But that's football.
'All season was not an easy one in our matches with Mr Riley. Against Liverpool Mohamed Sissoko should be sent off, he wasn't. One minute later Michael Ballack is out and we have to play with 10 men for a lot of the time.
'We go to Reading, we play with 10 men, we lose two goalkeepers and not even a yellow card and today, there were too many decisions against us.
'But what can I say? He is a good referee so I hope the next time we have him, things go back to normal.'
Mourinho brushed aside concerns of John Terry's long-term future at Stamford Bridge.
Terry was not ready to return to action against Spurs after suffering a head injury against Arsenal in the Carling Cup final and there have been reports that talks about a new deal for the England captain have stalled over the length of his contract extension and his pay demands.
But Mourinho sees no reason for concern.
He declared: 'John is on a long-term contract. His contract is until 2009. It is a long-term contract and he is a Chelsea player until then minimum - so no problem.
'It is better if he has a contract until 2015, better for him and for Chelsea. But if he has a contract until 2009 and they take one more month or two or three, until they sign a new one, I don't see a drama.'
Chelsea have never won the FA Cup under Mourinho and they looked down and out after a first half which saw Spurs race into a 3-1 interval lead.
Dimitar Berbatov put the visitors in front in the fifth minute before Frank Lampard levelled 17 minutes later.
But an own goal from Michael Essien in the 28th minute and a third from Hossam Ghaly eight minutes later put Tottenham in command.
Lampard reduced the arrears in the 71st minute and substitute Salomon Kalou capped a remarkable transformation with an equaliser five minutes from time to earn Chelsea a replay at White Hart Lane on Monday week.
Mourinho, who jetted off to Valencia after the game, said the number of goals was good for the crowd but not for him.
He added: 'It was a game with mistakes. My view of football is that when you have four, five, six goals in a game - it is great but there is always mistakes.
'We made some defensive mistakes but the game was magnificent. The spirit was great and I think everybody in the stands enjoyed the game. We can be happy because at half-time we were two goals down and out of the competition. But in the second half against a good team, we had enough desire and belief.
'We survived and I will fight until the last moment to win it. I think in this moment we are happier than them.
'They had everything in their hands and we had everything lost.'