José Mourinho's talent for self-publicity has ensured that once again he is the subject most football fans continent-wide are talking about as the dust settles on the opening legs of the Champions League semi-finals. But there is one place in Europe where conversation has not touched upon Barcelona's foul-tempered, bad-natured controversy-packed 2-0 victory over Real Madrid at the Bernabéu – Unicef's regional headquarters in Geneva.

The children's rights charity found itself drawn into the dispute about refereeing standards in Barcelona's games when Mourinho, aggrieved at a catalogue of injustices including Pepe's sending-off off for a foul on Daniel Alves, suggested that its relationship with his arch rivals might be one of the reasons why they receive preferential treatment.

"I don't know if it is the Unicef sponsorship or if it is because they are nice guys. I don't understand," he said. "Congratulations to Barcelona on being a great team and congratulations for all the other stuff you have which must be very hard to achieve. They have power and we have no chance."

While Barcelona have engaged their legal advisers to look into Mourinho's comments, at Unicef HQ there were raised eyebrows, but nothing more. "I saw that," said their spokesperson, Marixie Mercado. "Essentially, it's a club matter, it's not something we would comment on."

The only positive news for Mourinho is that any Unicef-provoked effect on referees will surely be less strong next season, when the logo of the not-for-profit but less children-of-the-world-friendly Qatar Foundation will join that of Unicef on Barça's shirts.