Fenerbahce has issued a strong statement in response to accusations that their first-team manager, Jose Mourinho, made “racist remarks” following the 0-0 draw against Galatasaray on Monday.
Galatasaray was the first to respond, claiming they would pursue criminal proceedings against Mourinho over what they described as “derogatory statements” about Turkish people. The Turkish league leaders also threatened to file complaints with both UEFA and FIFA.
In defense of Mourinho, who was appointed by Fenerbahce last summer, the club released a passionate statement.
It read:
“The statement made by our Technical Director, Jose Mourinho, after the match was completely taken out of context and deliberately distorted.
“As any sensible person can see and understand, the comments made by Mourinho were in response to the excessive reaction of the opposing team’s technical staff to referee decisions during the match and in no way can be associated with racism.
“Attempting to portray this statement as racist is a completely malicious act. We would like to inform the public that we will take legal action in response to this baseless slander, which aims to distract from the competition, alter the agenda, and manipulate the narrative.”
