Fenerbahce head coach Jose Mourinho says his team played “against the VAR and against the system” during their 3-2 win over Trabzonspor on Sunday night.
Mourinho was highly critical of the VAR Atilla Karaoglan in a post-match interview, suggesting that the official was “drinking Turkish tea” instead of watching the game.
The Portuguese coach said it was “unbelievable to win this match against so many powerful people” and implored Turkish people to speak out. Mourinho also suggested that the system could make his words “disappear”.
“Man of the match: Atilla Karaoglan,” the 61-year-old said to broadcaster beIN Sport. “We didn’t see him but he was the referee. The referee (Oguzhan Cakir) was just a little boy that was there on the pitch. But the referee was Atilla Karaoglan. So, man of the match. He goes from the invisible man to the most important man in the match.
“I think I’m speaking on behalf of every Fenerbahce fan. 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, we don’t want him as VAR even less. I know what I was told even before I came. I didn’t believe (it). It’s even worse than what I was told. I prefer to be on this side.
“It’s more difficult because we play against our opponents, good opponents like Trabzonspor are, lots of good players and historical coach. But we play against the system. And to play against the system is the most difficult thing. Tonight, we played against a good team, a strong atmosphere, against the VAR, and against the system.
“So, it was very hard. That’s why we celebrated so much this victory, because 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 who brought me here. They told me only half of the truth. They didn’t tell me the whole truth. If they told me the whole truth, I wouldn’t come. But my boys, we fight opponents and we fight the system.”
Asked what the reaction might be to his comments, Mourinho replied: “Depends, if the system act strongly then my words will even disappear. But maybe Fenerbahce people, Fenerbahce family, they are more aware of it. Because they don’t even try to hide.
“Isn’t it a red card on the right? Karaoglan was, what, drinking coffee at the time, didn’t see the red card for that player? He was alert to give the two penalty decisions when 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. There are only two possible explanations, 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 Turkey, it’s not my country. I care because it’s my job and I care because it’s my club, but in the end, you Turkish you should care, you should speak not me. You should speak, you should denounce, you should say what is going on year after year. You should do it, not me, because then I’m going to be the one under attack, I’m going to be the one that the system will criticise, the one that the system will try to punish, the one that the system will try to close my mouth…”
Mourinho ended the interview by slapping his chest and saying, “We are clean”, before walking off.
Fenerbahce had taken the lead at the end of the first half through former Manchester United midfielder Fred. Home side Trabzonspor were awarded two penalties, converting both, in the second half to turn the game around, before Fenerbahce equalised through Edin Dzeko. Sofyan Amrabat then scored in the 12th minute of added time to win the game for Mourinho’s side.
The Athletic has contacted the Turkish Football Federation for comment.
The context behind Mourinho’s ‘nuclear’ comments
On the face of it, Mourinho’s post-match rant about officialdom could be filed under ‘classic Jose’, but given his position as Fenerbahce manager, there is a broader context to his remarks.
The suspicion about referees — and really any administrators or figures of authority — in Turkish football runs extremely deep: in English football there are plenty of people who think certain referees are biased against their team but in Turkey, you will be able to find someone at every club who is absolutely convinced that the whole fabric of the sport is rigged against them.
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And Fenerbahce are the ones who have tended to shout about it the loudest. Last season, their president Ali Koc threatened to withdraw the club from the Super Lig, in protest against what he viewed as systemic bias against Fenerbahce, citing incidents that went back nearly two decades.
The threat was ostensibly triggered by the extraordinary scenes after the last time they played away at Trabzonspor, when fans invaded the pitch at full-time and physically attacked a number of Fenerbahce players. But the club also pointed to a game on the final day of the 2005-06 season, which caused Fenerbahce to lose the league, the match fixing scandal of the early 2010s which led to their former president Aziz Yildirim being imprisoned (he and the club were both eventually cleared of any wrongdoing) and a shocking incident in 2015 when their team coach was shot at by perpetrators still unknown.
At his unveiling in Istanbul in June, Mourinho made reference to being warned about this apparent bias against the club. He has made several pointed, but more minor protests against the officials — putting a laptop with apparent proof of an incorrect decision in front of a TV camera, sarcastically describing referee Clement Turpin as ‘one of the best in the world’ after sending him off against Manchester United in the Europa League — but he chose this moment to go nuclear.
(Ozan Kose/AFP via Getty Images)
