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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.
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.
Following the accusations of racism, former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba had come to the defence of his old boss and ‘dad’ Mourinho.
Former Ivory Coast international Drogba – who played for Galatasaray in 2013-14 between two different spells at Stamford Bridge, both of them working under Mourinho – used a social media post to defend the 62-year-old, indicating the Portuguese coach had been a father figure for him during his career.
Fener had issued their own statement on Tuesday, saying Mourinho’s comments after the match were “taken completely out of context and deliberately distorted”, and could “in no way be associated with racism”.
Galatasaray had 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”.
And 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.
Galatasaray, who lead Fenerbahce by six points at the top of the Super Lig, would add a fifth star to those already on their crest if they secure a 25th league title this season.
