Mourinho is accused of making “racist remarks” by Galatasaray following the Istanbul derby

After their 0-0 Super Lig stalemate on Monday, Galatasaray accused Jose Mourinho of uttering “racist statements” and declared they will file a criminal complaint against the Fenerbahce manager for his remarks.

Galatasaray did not specify which claims he was referring to, but Mourinho said that the home team’s bench had been “jumping like monkeys” and that a Turkish referee would have ruined the game.

Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic officiated Monday’s match after both clubs asked a foreign official to oversee the match.

Mourinho has “persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people” since assuming his position in the league, Galatasaray claimed on X.

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

“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.”

For his remarks on Turkish match officials, former Chelsea, Manchester United, and Tottenham Hotspur manager Mourinho has already received fines and suspensions. In a post-match press conference, the Portuguese criticized the Turkish referees once more.

“After the game, I visited the referees’ locker room. Naturally, a Turkish referee was present as the fourth official,” Mourinho said the news conference.

“You came for a big match, and you are in charge of a big match,” I said to him (Vincic), thanking him for coming.

“And I turned to face the fourth official, saying, ‘This match would be a disaster if you are the referee.'”

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

Mourinho also commended Vincic for not sending defender Yusuf Akcicek out early in the game, even though the Galatasaray bench reacted enthusiastically 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 stated.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Fenerbahce defended Mourinho, claiming that his remarks were purposefully misrepresented and taken out of context.

“As every commonsense 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 stated in a statement.

“It is utterly malicious to attempt to characterize this conversation as racist. In regards to this pitiful defamation that seeks to remove the competitors from the field, alter the agenda, and influence it, we would like to notify the public that we will enforce our legal rights.”

Okan Buruk, the coach of Galatasaray, also commented on the incident and made fun of Mourinho’s reaction.

“‘The crying one’s’ sentence was a little too drawn out… He’s known for crying, and he cried for a long time here once more,” Buruk said at a press conference on Monday.

“He went into the referee’s room and sobbed inside. Allow him to continue sobbing.