Galatasaray Accuse Mourinho of ‘Racist Statements’ After Istanbul Derby

While it was not clear which statements Galatasaray were referring to, Mourinho said the home side’s bench had been “jumping like monkeys” and that the match would have been a disaster if a Turkish referee had been in charge.

Monday’s game was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge.

Galatasaray said on X that Mourinho had “persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people” since taking up his role in the league.

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

“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.”

Former Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mourinho has previously been fined and suspended for his comments about Turkish match officials. The Portuguese was again critical of Turkish referees in a press conference after the match.

“I went to the referees’ dressing room after the game. Of course, the fourth official was there, a Turkish referee,” Mourinho told the press conference.

“I told him (Vincic), ‘Thank you to come here because you come for a big match and you are responsible for a big match’.

“And I turned myself to the fourth official and I said ‘this match, if you are the referee, this match would be a disaster.’

“And when I say him, I say the general tendency.”

Mourinho also praised Vincic for not giving a yellow card to defender Yusuf Akcicek early in the match despite the animated reaction of the Galatasaray bench to a challenge.

“I have also to thank the referee because with a Turkish referee after the big dive in the first minute, 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.

Fenerbahce issued a statement on Tuesday defending Mourinho, saying his comments were taken out of context and deliberately distorted.

“As every common sense person can see and understand; these expressions, used by Jose Mourinho to describe the extreme reaction of the opposing team’s technical staff to the referee’s decisions during the match, can in no way be associated with racism,” the club said in a statement.

“Trying to portray this discourse as racist is a completely malevolent approach. We would like to inform the public that we will exercise our legal rights regarding this pathetic slander that aims to take the competition out of the field, change the agenda and manipulate it.”

Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk also weighed in on the controversy, mocking Mourinho’s response.

“The speech of ‘The crying one’ took a bit too long… You know, he is famous for crying, and once again, he cried for a long time here,” Buruk told a press conference on Monday.

“He cried inside, he went into the referee’s room and cried… Let him keep crying.”

Source: Reuters