Fenerbahce confirm boss Jose Mourinho is set to sue Galatasaray after 'racist statement' accusation

Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho has opened legal proceedings against Galatasaray after the club accused him of making racist statements. The Portuguese tactician said in the aftermath of a 0-0 draw against Galatasaray on Monday that the bench of his rival team were jumping like monkeys.

He also said the Istanbul derby was better because it was officiated by a foreign referee, Slavko Vincic from Slovenia. Mourinho added that it would have been a disaster if a Turkish referee had been in charge.

The statement didn’t sit well with Galatasaray as they declared their intentions to initiate criminal proceedings regarding the statement. The club accused the Portuguese manager of using comments that ''escalated beyond merely immoral comments into unequivocally inhumane rhetoric in a statement.''

On Thursday, February 27, Jose Mourinho was banned for four games and handed a fine of £35,194 by the Turkish Football Federation for two different disciplinary issues. The country’s football governing body said it was penalizing the Portuguese manager for ''his derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee.'' It also banned him because ''he accused Turkish football of chaos and disorder with insulting and offensive statements towards both the Turkish football community and all Turkish referees.''

Now Fenerbahce has confirmed that its manager, Jose Mourinho, has filed a lawsuit against Galatasaray for damages through the club’s lawyers. They revealed in a statement:

''Fenerbahçe Sports Club announces to the public that, through its lawyers, our Technical Director Jose Mourinho has filed a moral compensation lawsuit against Galatasaray Sports Club for 1 million 907 thousand Turkish Liras due to the attack on Jose Mourinho’s personal rights.''

Following the accusations against Jose Mourinho, Didier Drogba is one of the players who has come out in the defense of his former boss in a social media post, saying his ‘Dad’ can’t be a racist.

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Turkish Football Federation's (TFF) statement to Jose Mourinho's alleged racist comments

The Turkish Football Federation gave its verdict on JMourinho’s alleged racist comments, imposing sanctions on the former Chelsea, Manchester United, and Real Madrid manager.

Regarding Mourinho’s post-match press conference comments, the TFF said (via Sky Sports):

"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."

Fenerbahce are currently in the second position on the Super Lig table with 58 points after 24 games.