Jose Mourinho suspended amid racism row – what does it mean for Rangers clash?
Mourinho banned for four matches by Turkish Football Federation
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.
In his post-match comments, 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.
Galatasaray subsequently 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”.
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.
The Portuguese coach also “accused Turkish football of chaos and disorder with insulting and offensive statements towards both the Turkish football community and all Turkish referees”.
The TFF said Mourinho’s “actions and statements that insulted the brand value of football activities in Turkey” were taken into consideration, with a decision of a two-match ban from both the dressing room and touchline as well as a fine of 117,000 Turkish lira (£2,500).
Regarding his post-match press conference comments, the TFF said: “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.”
As such, a fine of 1.5m TL (£32,655) was imposed alongside another two-match ban.
The sanctions mean Mourinho will not be in the dugout for Fenerbahce’s upcoming league games against Antalyaspor, Samsunspor, Bodrum and Trabzonspor.
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