Former Manchester United and Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho has come under pressure for racist accusations. Galatasaray said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against him.
It was reported that the now Fenerbahce manager made “racist statements” following the teams’ 0-0 draw on Monday.
It is however not clear which statements Galatasaray were referring to. Mourinho said the home bench had been “jumping like monkeys.” He also criticized Turkish referees, saying it would have been a “disaster” to use an official from the country.
Monday’s match was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge. As well as the threat of legal action, Galatasaray said they would submit “official complaints” to football’s governing bodies.
Jose Mourinho a former coach Inter Milan, Tottenham, to mention but a few is yet to respond to the accusations. After the game Mourinho was asked about the performance of 19-year-old defender Yusuf Akcicek and he said: “I have to thank the referee.”
“After the big dive in the first minute and 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.”
Jose Mourinho also said: “I went to the referee’s dressing room after the game, of course the fourth official was there, a Turkish referee. I told him ‘thank you for coming here, you come for a big match’ and I turned myself to the fourth official and I said ‘if you were a referee this match would be a disaster’.”
Galatasaray said: “Since the commencement of his managerial duties in Turkey, he has persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people. Today, his discourse has escalated beyond merely immoral comments into unequivocally inhumane rhetoric.”
“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.”
“Furthermore, we shall diligently observe the stance adopted by Fenerbahce an institution professing to uphold ‘exemplary moral values’ in response to the reprehensible conduct exhibited by their manager.”
