Galatasaray has announced that they will report Fenerbahçe manager José Mourinho to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) and UEFA for alleged racist remarks.

The controversy comes from Mourinho’s post-match comments, where he reportedly stated that the Galatasaray bench was “jumping around like monkeys.” He was quoted by BBC as saying:

“I have to thank the referee. After the big dive in the first minute and their bench jumping like monkeys on the top of the kid… with a Turkish referee, you would have a yellow card after one minute, and after five minutes, I would have to change him.”

Mourinho also insulted the fourth official, who was Turkish, while praising the match referee. He was quoted as saying:

“I went to the referee’s dressing room after the game. Of course, the fourth official was there, a Turkish referee. I told him, ‘Thank you for coming here; you came for a big match.’ Then I turned to the fourth official and said, ‘If you were a referee, this match would be a disaster.’”

In response, Galatasaray issued a statement on their official X account, stating

*”Since assuming his managerial role in Türkiye, Fenerbahçe manager José Mourinho has repeatedly made derogatory statements towards the Turkish people. Today, his words have escalated from merely immoral comments to outright inhumane rhetoric.

We hereby formally declare our intention to initiate criminal proceedings against José Mourinho for his racist remarks. Accordingly, we will submit official complaints to UEFA and FIFA. Furthermore, we will closely monitor the response of Fenerbahçe—a club that claims to uphold ‘exemplary moral values’—to their manager’s disgraceful behavior.”*

Fenerbahçe, defended their manager in an official club statement posted on X, stating that Mourinho’s words had been taken out of context. The statement reads;

*”Following our match against Galatasaray, it has become necessary to address a topic that has dominated discussions. José Mourinho’s post-match statements were misinterpreted and taken out of context.

As any reasonable person can see, Mourinho’s words were used to describe the exaggerated reactions of the opposing team’s technical staff to the referee’s decisions during the match. These comments cannot be associated with racism in any way.

Attempting to portray them as racist is a completely malicious approach. We will exercise our legal rights against this baseless slander, which aims to take the competition off the pitch, shift the narrative, and manipulate the agenda.”*

The situation continues to escalate, with both clubs standing firm on their respective stances.