SPANISH LA LIGA:REAL MADRID have increased security measures around Jose Mourinho after a member of the coach's security team was stabbed with an unidentified weapon. The incident occurred as the Real team were travelling to La Coruna to face Deportivo last Friday.

Mourinho was making his way through Alvedro airport when the incident happened but he was only informed of events yesterday. The injury to the security guard does not appear to have been serious. It is unclear whether Mourinho was the intended target. Real Madrid are awaiting the results of a police investigation and CCTV footage is being studied.

In the meantime Real, who travel to Santander tomorrow, have decided to review the security arrangements around their often controversial coach. It has not been confirmed whether they will overturn the decision – taken by club president Florentino Perez – that playing staff should make their own way through terminals rather than being collected on the runway. Perez wants to foster a sense of closeness between the club and its fans.

According to reports on the Spanish radio station Cadena SER, Mourinho was making his way through a crowd of supporters who had gathered to welcome the team to La Coruna. He may have stopped to sign autographs. He was flanked by security staff, one of whom noticed a slight pain in his side. When he arrived at the coach, the security guard noticed that he had sustained a small cut of around four centimetres, believed to have been caused by a sharp object but not a knife.

Real Madrid have not commented officially and have sought to downplay the incident.

Guardian Service