Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho had said the Galatasaray bench was ‘jumping like monkeys’ at the end of the Istanbul Derby
Didier Drogba defended his former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, insisting the Portuguese is “not a racist”. Fenerbahce coach Mourinho is under fire after Galatasaray levelled allegations of ‘racist statements’ by him. Galatasaray also said that they would take legal action. Speaking after the Istanbul Derby, Mourinho had said that the home bench were ‘jumping like monkeys’.
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.”
For the match Slovenian Slavko Vincic was the referee after both clubs wanted a foreign official to take charge.
In a post on X, Galatasaray stated, “Today, his discourse has escalated beyond merely immoral comments into unequivocally inhumane rhetoric. We hereby formally declare our intention to initiate criminal proceedings concerning the racist statements made by Jose Mourinho, and shall accordingly submit official complaints to Uefa and Fifa.”
Meanwhile, Fenerbahce said in a statement that Mourinho’s comments ‘were taken out of context’. “Attempting to portray this statement as a racist remark is an entirely malicious approach. We present to the public that we will exercise our legal rights regarding this feeble slander, which has been thrown to take the competition off the field, shift the agenda, and manipulate it.”
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