Mourinho, currently managing Fenerbahce in Turkey, faced allegations from Galatasaray of making racist remarks following a 0-0 draw between the two teams, which was officiated by a Slovenian referee on Monday.
In response to a question about a challenge early in the match, Mourinho remarked that a Turkish referee would have issued a yellow card “after the big dive and their (Galatasaray’s) bench jumping around like monkeys.”
Galatasaray announced plans to initiate criminal proceedings against Mourinho, citing “racist statements,” and intends to file complaints with relevant soccer authorities.
The following day, Fenerbahce dismissed the allegations, stating that the comments were unrelated to racism and had been “deliberately taken out of context and misrepresented.” The club also indicated plans to pursue legal action against what they termed a “baseless accusation.”
In a post on the social media platform X, Drogba, who played under Mourinho at Chelsea and also had a stint at Galatasaray, expressed his views on the situation.
“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,” wrote Drogba, who is Black. “Let’s focus on our games, support our brilliant lions and let’s win the league.”
Drogba further remarked, “How can my ‘Dad’ be a racist. Come on guys.”
The disciplinary board of the Turkish soccer federation is anticipated to release a statement regarding the incident in the coming days.