Galatasaray accuse Jose Mourinho of racism and plan to ‘initiate criminal proceedings’ against Fenerbahce boss

Galatasaray have accused Jose Mourinho of racism after a goalless draw with his Fenerbahce side on Monday night.

The two Istanbul giants collided at RAMS Park, but the game finished 0-0, with the real drama happening post-match when the hosts released a statement against Mourinho.

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In it they alleged that the Portuguese coach made a racist statement, saying: “Since the commencement of his managerial duties in Turkiye, Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho has persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people.

“Today, his discourse has escalated beyond merely immoral comments into unequivocally inhumane rhetoric.

“We hereby formally declare our intention to initiate criminal proceedings concerning the racist statements made by Jose Mourinho, and shall accordingly submit official complaints to UEFA and FIFA.

“Furthermore, we shall diligently observe the stance adopted by Fenerbahçe — an institution professing to uphold ‘exemplary moral values’— in response to the reprehensible conduct exhibited by their manager.”

It is not specified which Mourinho comment the statement is referring to.

Mourinho had accused the away bench of ‘jumping like monkeys’ and doubled-down on his criticism of Turkish officials.

Fenerbache have now responded with a statement of their own, claiming his comments were ‘completely taken out of context and deliberately distorted.’

It read: “As every sensible person can see and understand;
these statements used by Jose Mourinho to describe the excessive reaction of the opposing team’s technical staff to the referee decisions during the match can in no way be associated with racism.

“Trying to portray this statement as racist is a completely malicious approach.

“We would like to inform the public that we will use our legal rights regarding this pathetic slander that was made in order to take the competition off the field, change the agenda and manipulate it.”

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The top-of-the-table clash promised to be an intense one, with a foreign referee requested for the first time ever in the Turkish Super Lig in the shape of Slavko Vincic, while 4,500 police officers were in attendance.

Speaking after the game, Mourinho said: “I have to thank the referee. After the big dive in the first minute and their bench jumping like monkeys on the top of the kid… with a Turkish referee you would have a yellow card after one minute and after five minutes I would have to change him.”

He added: “I went to the referee’s dressing room after the game, of course the fourth official was there, a Turkish referee. I told him ‘thank you for coming here, you come for a big match’ and I turned myself to the fourth official and I said ‘if you were a referee this match would be a disaster’.”

The match was largely a damp squib, with visitors Fenerbahce the better side yet only managing three shots on goal.

There were small sparks during the game when Mourinho and his opposite number Okan Buruk were booked, while the game was paused in the second half when a flare was thrown from the away end into Galatasaray seating.

Yet things only heated up post-match, even before Mourinho’s statement that Gala have complained about.

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Giving his version of events first, Buruk said: “It was the crying one’s speech. He is famous for crying. He cried here again for a long time. He cried inside. He cried in the referee’s room. Let him continue crying.

“Mourinho entered the referee’s room. It is very wrong for him to speak insultingly to the Turkish referee. He said that if they were the ones managing, it would be like this. 

“This is very wrong. I cannot believe that he is humiliating the Turkish referees so much, I condemn it.”

The Turkish coach then went after Slovenian Vincic, saying: “He performed worse than the Turkish referees, I went and told him after the match. His hands and feet were shaking during the match, I couldn’t believe it.”

Unsurprisingly, Mourinho had the opposite view, praising the man who officiated last season’s Champions League final between Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund.

Backing up Mourinho was his club’s vice-president, Acun Ilicali, who told a media pool: “Mourinho spoke to the referees… He did not say to the referee, ‘You can never referee a match here again’, he did not threaten him.

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“Coach Okan must have spoken with the heat of the match. I understand that too because they played a very unsuccessful match. Statements like ‘Mourinho is crying’, ‘the referee was bad’ seem like a media operation to me.”

Vincic was the first foreign referee to officiate a Turkish Super Lig clash in 55 years, and appeared to handle the game well.

So well, in fact, that rivals Trabzonspor have since put out a statement saying they want the ‘experienced and fair’ Slovenian to officiate their games against the two Istanbul sides.

Still, it didn’t stop Mourinho from looking for another way to undermine the league, as he again attacked the hosts when asked if there was still a title fight.

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“Under normal conditions, I would say this league is still there,” he said. 

“If you ask what are normal conditions? If referees in Turkey look at today’s referee performance and say ‘I want to be a top-level referee like today’, then the better side will win the championship at the end of the season. 

“If the circus we have seen since the beginning of the year continues, then the story will have a different ending.

“Today, I came here for the first time to play a match, so I felt how they behaved in every way. It is a very good organisation, not clean but a good organisation.”