Paulo Di Canio has refused to apologise for his recent controversial remarks about Jose Mourinho.
Di Canio made the headlines after criticising AS Roma for appointing Mourinho as their new manager from next season, describing the Portuguese manager as being "the worst of the worst" and joining the Serie A side only for the money.
The Italian's comments were leaked from a voice recording he had sent to one of his friends, but he has refused to apologise for laying into the new Roma boss, insisting that only selected parts of the message were shared and that he stood by his opinion anyway.
"Firstly, I don't have to apologise to anyone. It was a private conversation and I can do as I please," Di Canio explained in an interview with Corriere dello Sport.
"Secondly, that audio was part of another six or seven messages in which I said very positive things about Mourinho. It's cowardly that they only leaked that part. It's a ridiculous and pathetic story. We were talking for fun, I was making fun of an old friend.
"There was talk of [appointing Maurizio] Sarri, of playing attractive football. I said that Mourinho has lost appeal. He no longer seems to me to have the strength, the energy, to stay at the top level for 24 hours a day.
"My joke also meant that he won't win the Scudetto [the Serie A title], but maybe he will, who knows? With this Roma side, you can reach the top six with your eyes closed.
"I didn't say what I said to belittle Roma, but the opposite. Years ago, I would have said that Mourinho is a luxury for Roma, now I say that Roma is a luxury for Mourinho."
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