Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho has been handed a four-match suspension and fined £35,000 following the fall-out from Monday’s goalless draw against rivals Galatasaray, who accused the Portuguese coach of making racist statements
Mourinho had said the Galatasaray bench were “jumping like monkeys” following an early challenge and also said the fixture was better for being refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic rather than Turkish officials after both clubs requested a foreign appointment.
Following the accusations of racism, former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba had come to the defence of his old boss and ‘dad’ Mourinho.
Former Ivory Coast international Drogba – who played for Galatasaray in 2013-14 between two different spells at Stamford Bridge, both of them working under Mourinho – used a social media post to defend the 62-year-old, indicating the Portuguese coach had been a father figure for him during his career.
Fener had issued their own statement on Tuesday, saying Mourinho’s comments after the match were “taken completely out of context and deliberately distorted”, and could “in no way be associated with racism”.
Galatasaray had outlined their intention to “initiate criminal proceedings concerning the racist statements made by Jose Mourinho”, and claimed he had made “derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people”.
And on Thursday, the Turkish Football Federation released decisions taken by its Professional Football Disciplinary Board, which imposed sanctions on the Fenerbahce boss for two separate disciplinary matters.
Mourinho had, the TFF said, come to the referees’ room and directed his “derogatory and offensive statements” towards the fourth official, who was Turkish.
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