Galatasaray accuses Mourinho of making racist comments after Turkish league match

ISTANBUL (AP) — Galatasaray plans to take criminal action against Jose Mourinho and will lodge a complaint with soccer's governing body. The Fenerbahce coach is accused of making racist comments after a Turkish league match.

League officials issued a statement after Monday's 0-0 draw with Fenerbahce announcing action against Mourinho, the 62-year-old Portuguese coach who joined Turkish football after managing Roma last year following spells at high-profile clubs including Chelsea, Manchester United, Real Madrid and Inter Milan.

Mourinho was fined and suspended earlier this season for attacking referees and the league. But his comments about Turkish referees and the Galatasaray bench after Monday's game sparked further criticism.

In a statement, Galatasaray said Mourinho had “persistently made derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people.”

“Today, his speech has escalated. We hereby formally declare our intention to initiate criminal proceedings in relation to the racist statements made by José Mourinho, and will consequently lodge official complaints with UEFA and FIFA.”

In his post-match interview, Mourinho welcomed the decision to bring in a foreign referee for the game and also praised Slovenian Slavko Vincic for a “top-class performance”.

Mourinho said he approached the referee and thanked him after the match. When he saw the fourth official – a Turkish referee – Mourinho said he told him: “If you are the referee… it would be a disaster.”

Asked about a refereeing decision at the start of the match, he said a Turkish referee had given a yellow card "after seeing a big fall and a bench jumping around like monkeys."

In November, the controversial Mourinho was banned for one match and fined after attacking Turkish football when he said he was fighting “the system” and suggested referees were biased against his team.

He has led Fenerbahce into a Europa League last-16 tie against Rangers next month.

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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.