Turkish football club Galatasaray accuses Mourinho of ‘racist statements’

Galatasaray, a Turkish football club, has accused Jose Mourinho of making “racist statements,” and it will launch a criminal case against him for his remarks following the teams’ 0-0 draw in the Super Lig.

Mourinho claimed that the home side’s bench was “jumping like monkeys” and that the match would have been a disaster if a Turkish referee had been in charge despite it being unclear what statements Galatasaray was making.

Slavko Vincic, a Slovenian, refereed the match on Monday after both clubs requested a foreign official to take control.

Since taking up his position in charge of the league, Mourinho has “persistently made derogatory statements directed at the Turkish people,” Galatasaray claimed on X.

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

We hereby formally inform UEFA and FIFA of our intention to launch criminal legal action in response to Jose Mourinho’s racist statements.

Galatasaray SK Club Statement

Jose Mourinho, the manager of Fenerbahçe, has consistently made disparaging statements toward the Turkish people since taking over as manager of the club in Turkey. Today, his discourse has escalated beyond merely immoral comments… pic. twitter.com/NRLsk9F4kT

Mourinho, a former manager of Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur, has previously received fines and suspensions for his remarks regarding Turkish match officials. In a subsequent press conference, the Portuguese again criticized Turkish officials.

After the game, I went to the referees’ dressing room. Of course, the fourth official was there, a Turkish referee”, Mourinho said.

I thanked him, “Vincic,” for coming because you are in charge of a major 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 rejecting defender Yusuf Akcicek’s yellow card early in the match despite the Galatsarary bench’s empathetic response to a challenge.

“With a Turkish referee, you would get a yellow card after one minute and I would have to change him after five minutes,” he continued. “I also have to thank the referee.”

Following his diatribe about Turkish football in November, Mourinho, who had claimed he was fighting “the system,” suggested officials were biased against his team, was banned from a game and fined.

He has led Fenerbahce to a Europa League round-of-16 contest, where they face against Scottish club Rangers in March.

There was no immediate comment from Fenerbahce, who are second in the Super Lig six points behind Galatasaray.