Mourinho, Fenerbahce sue Galatasaray over allegations of racism

Fenerbahce have filed a lawsuit against Turkey Süper Lig rival Galatasaray claiming an “attack on the personal rights” of coach Jose Mourinho.

Galatasaray had accused Mourinho of making racist remarks following Monday’s Istanbul derby, saying in a statement that he had used “unequivocally inhumane rhetoric” after he referred to the opposition bench “jumping around like monkeys.”

Fenerbahce rejected the accusation and said the comments were “deliberately taken entirely out of context and distorted in a misleading manner.”

On Friday, they went further and said they had initiated legal action to recoup around $52,000 in damages.

“We would like to announce to the public that a lawsuit for moral damages of 1 million 907 thousand Turkish liras has been filed against Galatasaray Sports Club by Fenerbahçe Sports Club lawyers due to the attack on the personal rights of our Technical Director Jose Mourinho,” Fenerbahce said in a statement.

The figure appeared to be a reference to Fenerbahce having been founded in 1907, a number that is on the club’s crest.

Galatasaray said this week that Mourinho had “persistently issued derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people” and intended to initiate criminal proceedings concerning the “racist statements” made by the Portuguese coach.

The Turkish Football Federation on Thursday handed Mourinho a four-match ban and fined him 1.6 million Turkish lira ($44,000) for comments made after about Turkish referees after the Galatasaray match.