Jose Mourinho has reacted to the “not clever” racism allegations that were levelled at him by Galatasaray, with that surprising attack backfiring.
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Portuguese coach spoke out against rivalsThreats and counter threats of legal actionMourinho has the backing of former playersFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Ex-Chelsea and Manchester United manager Mourinho is now working in Turkey with Fenerbahce. He was recently involved in another fiery Istanbul derby date with arch-rivals Gala. Having taken issue with behaviour on the opposition bench, the ‘Special One’ claimed that certain opponents were “jumping like monkeys”.
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Galatasaray threatened legal action on the back of said comments, but Fenerbahce were quick to back their boss and hit out at what they considered to be “pathetic slander” that was “completely malicious”. It was then revealed that Mourinho was suing domestic foes for just under £42,000 for “non-pecuniary losses” (not consisting of money).
WHAT JOSE MOURINHO SAID
Mourinho has now addressed the allegations directly, telling : “They were not clever in the way they attacked me, because they didn't know my past. They didn't know my connections with Africa, with African people and African players and African charities. So instead of going against me, I think it boomeranged and went against them.
“Everyone knows who I am as a person. Everybody knows my bad qualities, but that is not one of my bad qualities. Exactly the opposite! The most important thing is I know who I am, and the attack accusing racism was a bad choice. I just felt: how could they go so low?”
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Mourinho is grateful for the backing that he received during an unfortunate saga, with the likes of Didier Drogba and Michael Essien speaking up in his defence. The Portuguese added: “Probably even from people who don't like me the support was there. I thank the people who didn't have a problem to speak [out], especially my boys, my former players. They were a very important voice.”
