Jose Mourinho to sue Galatasaray after being accused of ‘racist statements’ | OneFootball

Jose Mourinho is to sue rivals Galatasaray after the Istanbul club accused him of racism, Fenerbahce have confirmed.

Mourinho said Galatasaray’s bench were “jumping like monkeys” as they appealed an early challenge in the 0-0 draw on Monday. Fenerbahce said Mourinho’s comments had been “completely taken out of context” and “deliberately distorted”.

The Fenerbahce manager also said the derby was better for being refereed by a Slovenian, in Slavko Vincic, than a Turkish official after both clubs requested a foreign appointment. Mourinho repeated his criticism of Turkish referees and said the match would have been a “disaster” with one in charge.

Mourinho was banned for four matches and fined £35,000 by the Turkish Football Federation [TFF] on Thursday for two seperate disciplinary matters, two days after Galatasaray outlined their intention to initiate criminal proceedings over “racist statements” and “derogatory statements directed towards Turkish people”.

Fenerbahce, who are appealing Mourinho’s touchline ban, confirmed that the former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager, 62, will be suing Galatasaray for damages through the club’s lawyers.

“We would like to announce to the public that a lawsuit for moral damages of 1,907,000 Turkish Lira (£41,000) has been filed against Galatasaray Sports Club by Fenerbahçe Sports Club lawyers due to the attack on the personal rights of Jose Mourinho,” a statement said.

The amount is symbolic and refers to 1907 - the year in which Fenerbahce were founded.

In his press conference after the 0-0 draw against Galatasaray, Mourinho said “after the big dive in the first minute and their bench jumping like monkeys on 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 [substitute] him”.

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Following the accusations of racism, former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba came to Mourinho’s defence and used a social media post to say he had been a father figure for him during his career.

In announcing disciplinary proceedings, the TFF said Mourinho came to the referees’ room and directed “derogatory and offensive statements” towards the fourth official, who was Turkish.

The TFF said Mourinho’s “actions and statements that insulted the brand value of football activities in Turkey” were taken into consideration, with a decision of a two-match ban from both the dressing room and touchline as well as a fine of 117,000 Turkish lira (£2,500).

Regarding his post-match press conference comments, the TFF said: “It was determined that the statements used towards the members of the opposing team, were not mandatory, were contrary to the ethics of sports and the concept of fair play, contained expressions that could encourage violence and disorder in sports, were divisive and separatist in society and could cause fan incidents, and therefore, it was deemed an act against sportsmanship.”

As such, a fine of 1.5m TL (£32,655) was imposed alongside another two-match ban.

Mourinho served the first of his four-game ban on Thursday - missing their 4-1 Turkish Cup win at Gaziantep - and if Fenerbahce’s appeal is unsuccessful he will miss their next three domestic matches.