This comes after Galatasaray accused Mourinho of making racist remarks following the Istanbul derby on Monday. They stated that he used “unequivocally inhumane rhetoric” when he described the opposing bench as “jumping around like monkeys.”
Fenerbahce denied these allegations, asserting that the comments were “deliberately taken entirely out of context and distorted in a misleading manner.” They have now filed a lawsuit seeking around $52,000 in damages.
In their statement, Fenerbahce revealed that they are pursuing a lawsuit for moral damages amounting to 1 million 907 thousand Turkish liras against Galatasaray Sports Club due to the infringement on Mourinho's personal rights. This amount seems to reference the year Fenerbahce was established, 1907, which is featured on the club's emblem.
Galatasaray responded this week, claiming that Mourinho has “persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people” and is planning to pursue criminal charges regarding the “racist statements” attributed to the Portuguese coach.
Additionally, the Turkish Football Federation imposed a four-match ban on Mourinho and fined him 1.6 million Turkish lira (about $44,000) for his comments about Turkish referees after the match against Galatasaray.
During his post-match press conference, Mourinho expressed his approval of the decision to appoint a foreign referee, Slovenian Slavko Vincic, for the game and commended the official for a “top performance.”
He mentioned that he thanked the referee after the match and jokingly told the fourth official, a Turkish referee, that having him as the main referee would be “a disaster.”
Mourinho made the move to Turkey from Roma last year, following his time at several high-profile clubs, including Chelsea.