Chelsea heighten tension with complaint against Rijkaard

Chelsea raised the stakes yesterday ahead of next week's Champions' League game against Barcelona when they finally carried out their threat of reporting the Catalan club's Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard to Uefa for his actions at half-time in the Nou Camp.

With Jose Mourinho's club entering the most critical stage of their season, they have not lost their appetite for controversy. The club are on five disciplinary charges from the Football Association and Uefa but their latest move has revealed that they are determined not to let Barcelona, or Rijkaard, escape punishment.

After the game at the Nou Camp, Mourinho refused to give a press conference and his entire team left under a cloud following an argument at half-time over Rijkaard's approach to the referee Anders Frisk. Chelsea's resolve to formally complain about Rijkaard allegedly entering the referee's private room has been doubted in recent weeks but the hierarchy at Stamford Bridge felt that they had to pursue the matter.

They have sent their complaint to Uefa, who refused to disclose the details of the document, and will have their case heard on 24 March. It is likely to make the visit of Barcelona to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday a tense occasion for officials of both clubs, as well as Rijkaard and Mourinho, whose exchanges have bordered on open hostility. The scuffle between Rijkaard's assistant Henk Ten Cate and members of Mourinho's backroom staff in the tunnel at half-time will form part of the complaint from Chelsea but the central thrust will still be the contact with Frisk. Mourinho shouted at Rijkaard when he saw the Barcelona coach in the tunnel although it was the coach's staff who actually saw Rijkaard approach Frisk.

Mourinho said last week that coaches should not have conversations with referees if they were not prepared to do it in full view of both sides. He said: "Normally I do not like talking to the referee. Sometimes you can talk to the referee, but usually in a common space. It is different in a tunnel with 20 people around.

"The referee is a man, and a manager talks to a man, and you talk to him if you are not happy with a decision. You can't say you can't communicate or there should be a wall but it is another thing to talk to a ref in a private place."

Chelsea's complaint was sent on the same day that Uefa charged them on two further counts over the game with Barcelona: for arriving late on to the pitch and for Mourinho's decision not to attend the compulsory press conference.

It means that Chelsea are now on five different disrepute charges. They have denied an FA charge of failing to control their fans when violence erupted during their Carling Cup tie with West Ham earlier this season. They have also rejected a further FA charge of failing to control their players during a Premiership game against Blackburn at Ewood Park.

Mourinho will have to answer an FA misconduct charge after calling Manchester United's players "cheats" in an interview given to Chelsea's in-house television channel after the Carling Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge. The Premier League is also expected to set a date soon for the disciplinary commission hearing over the alleged illegal approach to Arsenal's Ashley Cole.

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Arjen Robben has received treatment from Milan's club doctor following the personal intervention of the club's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. The Russian asked Milan's vice-chairman Adriano Galliani if Robben could consult the club's medical co-ordinator Dr Jean-Pierre Meersseman to help Robben's fitness. Meersseman said: "Abramovich asked Galliani if I could treat Robben and I suppose he said 'yes' because I came to London.

"They are very good friends and Galliani was happy to help. There has been a great relationship between Chelsea and Milan for the last couple of years and we were happy to help. Abramovich knows Galliani well and the Russians are on good terms with our Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi."

While Robben has said that he only has a 10 per cent chance of being fit for the Barcelona match, the Catalan club will definitely be without right-winger Ludovic Giuly, who is suffering from a back problem.