Mourinho has stirred up controversy again. The Fenerbahçe coach is at the center of a heated debate in Turkey due to statements he made after the Istanbul derby between Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe. This crucial match in the Turkish league title race ended in a goalless draw.
Given the high stakes of the Turkish football derby and widespread criticism of local refereeing, the Turkish league and federation decided to bring in a foreign referee for this important clash between the two title contenders. The chosen referee was Slovenian Slavko Vincic. After the match, Mourinho, a vocal critic of Turkish referees, was questioned about the referee’s performance. His comments have ignited considerable controversy: “I believe the only reason today’s match was good was the referee. Both teams competed well. The referee was responsible for the good match. Their (the rival’s) aim was to get a yellow card for the 18-year-old player in the first 20 seconds. They are very strong in clandestine strategies like this. If it had been a Turkish referee, Yusuf would have seen a yellow card. In the situation I mentioned, everyone on the opposing bench jumped like monkeys. If it had been a Turkish referee, he would have immediately issued the card, and I would have had to substitute the player within a minute. The referee’s performance was top-notch. It was a very competitive match, perhaps not a good match in footballing terms, but there was good competitiveness.” “I went to the referee’s room after the match, and the fourth official was there. I said to him: ‘Thank you for coming, for refereeing this match.’ I said: ‘If you had been Turkish, it would have been a disaster’,” the Portuguese coach concluded.
Attacks on Mourinho
These statements have been poorly received in Turkey, with Galatasaray being among the first to respond with a strong statement condemning the coach’s behavior and announcing legal action against him. Galatasaray’s statement reads:
“Since taking over as coach in Turkey, Fenerbahçe coach José Mourinho has consistently made derogatory statements against the Turkish people. Today, his rhetoric has escalated from mere immoral comments to clearly inhumane rhetoric.
We hereby formally declare our intention to initiate criminal proceedings for the racist statements made by José Mourinho and will file official complaints accordingly with UEFA and FIFA. Furthermore, we will diligently observe the stance taken by Fenerbahçe, an institution that claims to uphold ‘exemplary moral values,’ in response to the reprehensible conduct exhibited by their coach.”
Others, like Victor Osimhen (a Galatasaray player), have chosen to attack the coach on social media. “#SayNoToRacism” the footballer posted, condemning what has been considered a racist attack against the Turkish people.
Defenses of Mourinho
Fenerbahçe has issued a statement defending their coach and announcing that they will take legal action against Galatasaray. Their statement reads:
“We find it necessary to issue this statement regarding an issue that has dominated the agenda following the match between our football team and Galatasaray. A comment made by our coach, José Mourinho, after the match was deliberately taken out of context and misleadingly distorted.
As any reasonable person can recognize, the expression used by José Mourinho was solely intended to describe the excessive reaction of the opposing team’s technical staff to the referee’s decisions during the match. These expressions cannot, under any circumstances, be associated with racism. Any attempt to present this statement as a racist comment is completely malicious.
We would like to inform the public that we will exercise our legal rights against this unfounded accusation, which aims to take the competition off the field, change the agenda, and manipulate public perception.”
Immediately after the controversy erupted, the vice-president of Fenerbahçe defended Mourinho, clarifying that, away from the controversy, these are not racist words: “If you call a black person a monkey, that is racism. If you say it to a white person, what kind of racism is that! What kind of racism is this! When I say ‘don’t jump like a squirrel, don’t jump like a monkey,’ what kind of racism is this? When people jump for a yellow card, if this group is of white people… What José Mourinho said is that people jump and react too much. It’s not about skin color. He is not physically comparing those from that club to monkeys. He says ‘you are jumping for a yellow card.'”
We will see how this new controversy surrounding the controversial coach develops and whether the legal actions that Galatasaray and Fenerbahçe will take are accepted and processed. ‘The Special One’ is once again in the eye of the storm.