Fenerbahce has vehemently rejected accusations from rivals Galatasaray that their coach, Jose Mourinho, made racist statements following Monday’s heated Süper Lig derby. Galatasaray has announced its intention to pursue “criminal proceedings” and report Mourinho to FIFA and UEFA over the alleged remarks.
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The controversy stems from Mourinho’s post-match comments regarding an incident involving Fenerbahce’s 19-year-old defender, Yusuf Akcicek. When questioned about the incident, Mourinho stated, “Again, I have to thank the referee because with a Turkish referee after the big dive and the first minute and their [Galatasaray’s] bench jumping like monkeys on top of the kids. A Turkish referee would have [given Akcicek] a yellow card after one minute, and after five minutes I would have to change him.”
Fenerbahce swiftly responded with a statement on Tuesday, asserting that Mourinho’s words were “completely taken out of context and deliberately distorted.”
The club’s statement emphasized, “As any rational person can see and understand, these statements used by José Mourinho during the match to describe the overreaction of the opposing team’s technical committee to the referee’s decisions cannot be associated with racism in any way. Trying to portray this statement as a racist statement is a completely malicious approach. We inform the public that we will use our legal rights regarding this incompetent slander, which is thrown in order to take the rivalry off the field, change and manipulate the agenda.”
Mourinho’s praise of Slovenian referee Slavko Vinčić, who officiated the match at the request of both clubs, further fueled Galatasaray’s ire.
He suggested the game would have been “a disaster” under a Turkish referee.
Galatasaray, via their X account, accused Mourinho of “persistently issuing derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people” since his arrival at Fenerbahce, escalating his recent comments to “unequivocally inhumane rhetoric.”
This incident adds to Mourinho’s history of criticizing Turkish officiating. In January, he described a “toxic” environment surrounding referees, and in November, he received a one-game ban and fine for alleging bias against his team and fighting “the system.”
Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk also expressed dissatisfaction with Vinčić’s performance, stating, “The fourth referee was not listened to because he is Turkish. I told him [Vinčić] after the match that he performed worse than Turkish referees…”
The goalless draw leaves Fenerbahce six points behind league leaders Galatasaray.
Fenerbahce vice president Acun Ilıcalı argued that the league standings would be different if foreign referees had been consistently used, highlighting Galatasaray’s five yellow cards and their recent European performance.
“If there were foreign referees, there would be no point difference today,” Ilıcalı said. “Galatasaray saw five yellow cards today. Look and see if Galatasaray has ever seen five yellow cards. Everyone is satisfied with the referee. Our coach is satisfied, we are satisfied, statements are coming from Anatolian teams, as far as I understand, everyone is satisfied. The only team that is not satisfied is Galatasaray.”
He further criticized Galatasaray’s European record, stating, “Zero wins in six games. In the seventh game, the foreign referee was here [on Monday] … zero corners, half a shot … That’s the truth. We put a stick in the hornet’s nest. I am sure that the teams that see this, the teams that play Galatasaray, are saying, ‘I wish there was a foreign referee in this stadium for our game.'”
