March 3 – The fierce rivalry between Turkish giants Fenerbahce and Galatasaray has reached new heights off the field after the former revealed it had filed a lawsuit against the latter for suggesting Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho had made racist comments.
Galatasaray’s accusations came after the Istanbul derby a week ago claiming Mourinho had used “unequivocally inhumane rhetoric” after he referred to the opposition bench “jumping around like monkeys.”
Fenerbahce rejected the accusation and said the comments were “deliberately taken entirely out of context and distorted in a misleading manner.” The club have now gone further by initiating legal action to recoup around $52,000 in damages, a symbolic amount which references 1907 as the year Fenerbahce were founded.
“We would like to announce to the public that a lawsuit for moral damages of 1 million 907 thousand Turkish liras has been filed against Galatasaray Sports Club by Fenerbahçe Sports Club lawyers due to the attack on the personal rights of our Technical Director Jose Mourinho,” the club said in a statement.
Mourinho, whose managerial career has been frequently marked by controversy and who has been in charge of Fenerbahce since the summer after penning a two-year deal, was initially hit with a four-match ban and a fine after taking aim at Turkish referees following the 0-0 draw with Galatasaray. Both penalties have now been halved on appeal.
The match was officiated by Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic following requests from both clubs to have an overseas ref take charge of the match. Mourinho remained aggrieved by the Turkish fourth official, however, and made his feelings known during his post-match press conference.
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