Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho given 4-match ban, fined for comments on Turkish referees

February 28, 2025
7:54 pm

The Turkish football federation on Friday issued a four-match ban and a fine of 1.6 million Turkish lira ($44,000) on Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho after his recent comments on referees after a match against Galatarsaray.

In his post-match interview on Monday, Mourinho welcomed the decision to bring in a foreign referee for the game and also praised Slavko Vincic of Slovenia for a “top performance.” Mourinho said he’d gone to see the referee and thank him following the game. When he saw the fourth official — a Turkish referee — Mourinho said he told him: “If you are the referee … would be a disaster.”

Asked about a challenge early in the match, he said a Turkish referee would have reacted with a yellow card “after the big dive and their bench jumping around like monkeys.”

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The Turkish federation said the ban and fine were instituted due to “derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee” and accusations of chaos and disorder in Turkish football.

It said Mourinho’s remarks violated sports ethics, promoted violence and disorder and could incite fan incidents.

Fenerbahce issued a statement on Tuesday defending Mourinho, saying his comments were taken out of context and deliberately distorted.

On Thursday, former Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba had defended his former Chelsea manager Mourinho, insisting the Portuguese is “not a racist”.

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Drogba, who played for Galatasaray in the 2013-14 season and played for Chelsea when Mourinho was the manager, jumped to his defence. “You know how proud I was to wear the yellow and red jersey and my love for the most decorated club in Turkey!!,” Drogba posted on X. “We all know how passionate and heated rivalries can be, and I’ve been lucky enough to experience it. I’ve seen the recent comments about Jose Mourinho. Trust me when I tell you I have known Jose for 25 years and he is not a racist and history (past and recent) is there to prove it. How can my “Dad” be a racist. Come on guys.”

(With agency inputs)