Jose Mourinho is suing Turkish football club Galatasaray after they accused him of racism.
The 62-year-old, who’s now in charge of rival Turkish club Fenerbahce, was given a four-match ban and fined following a match between the Istanbul rivals on Monday.
In a post-match interview, he said the Galatasaray bench were “jumping like monkeys”, and the game was better for being refereed by a Slovenian ref rather than Turkish officials after both clubs requested a foreigner to take charge.
Mourinho also told the media that after seeing the Turkish fourth official, he’d told him: “If you are the referee… would be a disaster.”
The national football federation ordered him to pay over £32,000 due to “derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee” and said the remarks violated ethics and could incite fans.
Galatasaray claimed Mourinho had made “racist statements”, but Fenerbahce defended their manager and said the comments were taken out of context and “deliberately distorted”.
The ex-Chelsea boss has now decided to sue Galatasaray, Fenerbahce confirmed.
He is seeking 1,907,000 Turkish Lira (around £41,500), a symbolic sum referencing 1907 – the year the club was founded.
A club statement said it was for “non-pecuniary damages due to the attack on the personal rights of our technical director Jose Mourinho”.
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba is among several players who have backed Mourinho, saying on social media he was like a father figure to him when they worked together.
Drobga said the Portuguese manager “is not a racist and history is there to prove it”.
Galatasaray currently lead Fenerbahce by six points in the Turkish league.
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Earlier this season, Mourinho was handed a one-match ban and fined almost £15,000 for his response to Fenerbahce’s 3-2 win at Trabzonspor.
He was charged with “unsportsmanlike behaviour towards opposing team fans” and “diminishing the value of Turkish football and… discrediting the impartiality of the referees and other match officials” during a post-match interview.
