Jose Mourinho produced a performance for the ages after his Fenerbahce side’s 3-2 victory over Trabzonspor on Sunday, embarking on an eight-minute rant in which he lashed out at referees and alleged corruption in Turkish football.
Fred gave Fenerbahce the lead before two Trabzonspor penalties turned the game around. Eden Dzeko equalised for Mourinho’s side, before Sofyan Amrabat struck in the 12th minute of stoppage time to seal a wild victory.
Mourinho celebrated Amrabat’s goal by knee-sliding on to the pitch, although he quickly ended up with his face in the turf after meeting more resistance than he anticipated.
Clearly in no mood for fun after the final whistle, Mourinho spent eight minutes in front of the cameras lashing out at all the exterior forces which, according to him, were conspiring to try stop his side from winning.
“The man of the match was [VAR referee] Atilla Karaoglan,” he began. “We didn’t see him, but he was the referee of the match. The referee was just a little boy who was there on the pitch, but the referee was Atilla Karaoglan.
“He went from the invisible man to the most important man of the match. I speak on behalf of all Fenerbahce fans. We don’t want him again. We don’t want him because it smells bad. We don’t want him. We don’t want him on the pitch, but on the VAR even less.”
Continuing his tirade, Mourinho took aim at everyone associated with Turkish football, admitting he would not have joined Fenerbahce had he understood the full extent of the alleged corruption on show.
“I know what I was told, even before I came,” he said. “I didn’t believe. It’s even worse than I was told. But I prefer to be on this side. It’s more difficult. It’s more difficult because we play against good opponents like Trabzonspor is: good opponent with lots of good players and a historical coach.
“But we play against a system. And to play against a system is the most difficult thing. Tonight we play against a good team, against a strong atmosphere, against VAR, and against a system. So very hard.
“That’s why we celebrated this victory so much. It’s unbelievable to win this match against so many powerful people. We are not going to give up. We know what we have.
“I blame the Fenerbahce people that brought me here! They told me only half of the truth. They didn’t tell me the whole truth, because if they told me the whole truth I wouldn’t come! But with half of the truth, with my boys we fight the opponent, we fight the system.”
Taking one final shot at the officials, Mourinho concluded: “[Karaoglan] was alert to give the two penalties that the referee didn’t give, and then he was having Turkish tea when it was a clear penalty for us and he didn’t give it.
“So either he was sleeping, or he was drinking his tea and he didn’t see it. So let’s have a laugh, because if we take it too seriously…
“In the end, I’m working in Turkiye. It’s not my country. I care because it’s my job and I care because it’s my club. But I think you Turkish, you should care about it! You Turkish, you should speak, not me. You should denounce. You should say what is going on, year after year. You should do it, not me. Because I will be the one under attack, the one the system will criticise. The system will try to punish me, the system will try to close my mouth.”
