Jose Mourinho gets four-game ban for comments after Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce

By Alex Brodie

Jose Mourinho gets four-game ban for comments after Galatasaray vs Fenerbahce

Jose Mourinho has been banned for four matches and fined after comments he made following his Fenerbahce side's match against Istanbul rivals Galatasaray.

Galatasaray accused Mourinho of making "racist statements" after Monday's 0-0 draw and said that the club intended to initiate criminal proceedings against him.

The Super Lig leaders also said that they would be submitting official complaints to UEFA and FIFA.

The Turkish Football Federation on Thursday handed Mourinho a two-game ban and a £2,548 fine for comments made towards the fourth official and a two-game ban and £32,670 fine for comments made after the match about Galatasaray team members.

In his post-match press conference, the 62-year-old praised Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic -- who the Turkish Football Federation appointed to officiate the match -- and criticised the Galatasaray bench's reaction to what he described as a dive during the game.

"I have to thank the referee," said Mourinho. "After the big dive in the first minute and their (Galatasaray's) bench jumping like monkeys on top of each other.

"If it was a Turkish referee, you would have a yellow card after one minute, and after five minutes, I would have to change him. Thankfully, it was a perfect experience for him."

After the match, Galatasaray accused Mourinho in a statement on social media of "persistently" making "derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people" since being appointed Fenerbahce manager in June last year.

The club added that his comments had been escalated into "unequivocally inhumane rhetoric" and said that Mourinho had made "racist statements".

Fenerbahce released a statement the following day.

"As any rational person can see and understand these expressions used by Jose Mourinho during the match to describe the overreaction of the opposing team's technical committee to the referee's decisions cannot be associated with racism in any way," the club said.

"Trying to portray this discourse as a racist discourse is a completely malicious approach."

Fenerbahce added that they were exploring legal action of their own.

Galatasaray are six points clear of Fenerbahce at the top of the Super Lig.

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