Former Manchester United and Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho has debunked claims saying he is a racist. The manager said he is the “opposite” of what they are accruing him of. He faced racism after his comment on the referee after their game against Galatasaray.
Galatasaray said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against him after claiming he made “racist statements” following the teams’ 0-0 draw on 24 February. Following the accusation Jose Mourinho said: “They [Galatasaray] were not clever in the way they attacked me, because they didn’t know my past.”
He also said: “They didn’t know my connections with Africa, with African people and African players and African charities.” “So instead of going against me, I think it boomeranged and went against them.”
Following the Istanbul derby, Mourinho said the home bench had been “jumping like monkeys” during the game. The Fenerbahce coach’s comments had been taken “completely taken out of context” according to his club. He was filed a lawsuit against Galatasaray seeking damages worth 1,907,000 Turkish Lira (£41,000).
Mourinho said: “Everyone knows who I am as a person. Everybody knows my bad qualities, but that is not one of my bad qualities. Exactly the opposite!” “The most important thing is I know who I am, and the attack accusing racism was a bad choice.”
“I thank the people who didn’t have a problem to speak [out], especially my boys, my former players. They were a very important voice,” said Mourinho.
In addition to his comments about the Galatasary coaching staff after the Istanbul derby, Mourinho also repeated his criticism of Turkish referees, saying it would have been a “disaster” to use an official from the country.
