Mourinho files lawsuit against Turkish rivals Galatasaray

On Monday 24th February, José Mourinho’s Fenerbahçe side played out a 0-0 draw against bitter Intercontinental Derby rivals Galatasaray in the Turkish Süper Lig, yet the fallout from the game was far from indicative of a typical bore draw.

In his post-match press conference, Mourinho lambasted the behaviour of the Galatasaray bench who in his eyes had been “jumping around like monkeys” in their efforts to encourage a booking for Fenerbahçe defender Yusuf Akçiçek. Mourinho also criticised the conduct of the Turkish fourth official, both clubs (and Mourinho himself) beforehand successfully requesting that the game be officiated by a foreign referee.

It was Slovenian official Slavko Vinčić who ultimately oversaw Monday’s game, his commanding display of officiating over the fixture earning praise from the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).

The Portuguese coach’s comments regarding the Galatasaray substitutes bench, though, stimulated Galatasaray into announcing that they would initiate legal proceedings

Mourinho was originally fined 1.6m Turkish lira (about £35,000) and handed a four-game domestic touchline suspension for two separate disciplinary matters by the TFF, yet was successful in his appeal to see his fine reduced and his ban halved.

Having already served the first game of his ban in Thursday’s 4-1 Turkish Cup win away to Gaziantep by the news of the successful appeal, Mourinho concluded his reduced suspension in Sunday’s comfortable 4-0 win at home to Antalyaspor.

The Portuguese coach’s comments regarding the Galatasaray substitutes bench, though, stimulated Galatasaray into announcing that they would initiate legal proceedings against Mourinho for supposed “racist statements” against the Turkish people.

Unsurprisingly, Mourinho’s character has also been backed up by a number of his former players

The day after this announcement, Fenerbahçe released a statement of their own asserting that Mourinho’s comments had been “completely taken out of context and deliberately distorted.”

Mourinho retaliated himself, his club announcing the following Friday that he was filing his own lawsuit against Galatasaray for “attack[ing]” his “personal rights”. Mourinho’s lawsuit is worth 1,907,000 Turkish lira – this figure representing the year Fenerbahce was founded (1907).

Unsurprisingly, Mourinho’s character has also been backed up by a number of his former players, including legendary Chelsea and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba.

Drogba, also formerly of Galatasaray, took to X (formerly Twitter) to insist that his Chelsea coach and “Dad” could never be a “racist”.

Following this ill-fated latest edition of the Intercontinental Derby between two of the nation’s most historic clubs, Fenerbahçe sat six points adrift of their intracity rivals at the summit of the Süper Lig. This weekend’s win, combined with Galatasaray dropping points away to mid-table Kasımpaşa, reduces the gap to four points with eleven games yet to play.