Soccer

Jose Mourinho claims Fenerbahce are ‘playing against the system’ in Turkey

Mourinho took a tumble in his celebration after Fenerbahce’s win against Trabzonspor before complaining about the officials in his press conference.

Jose Mourinho took charge at Fenerbahce during the summer
Jose Mourinho took charge at Fenerbahce during the summer (Joe Giddens/PA)
By PA Sport staff

Fenerbahce boss Jose Mourinho has criticised the Turkish Super Lig and its officials after his side’s dramatic 3-2 win at Trabzonspor.

Decisions made in Sunday’s contest that Mourinho was unhappy about included no penalty being given to the visitors in the 82nd minute when they appealed for a handball inside the box.

The former Chelsea and Manchester United boss posted footage of that incident on Instagram, as well as an image of a challenge on Fenerbahce’s Bright Osayi-Samuel.

In a post-match interview with beIN Sports, Mourinho declared VAR Atilla Karaoglan as “man of the match”, saying: “We didn’t see him but he was the referee. The (on-field) referee (Oguzhan Cakir) was just a little boy that was there on the pitch, but the referee was Atilla Karaoglan.

“He goes from the invisible man to the most important man in the match.

“I think I am speaking on behalf of every Fenerbahce fan – we don’t want him again. We don’t want him as a VAR. We don’t want him on the pitch, VAR even less.”

The Portuguese, who took charge at Fenerbahce in the summer, went on suggest he would not have come to Turkey if he had been told “the whole truth” by the club.

He said: “I know what I was told even before I came. I didn’t believe. It is even worse than I was told.

Mourinho saw his side come back from 2-1 down to beat Trabzonspor 3-2
Mourinho saw his side come back from 2-1 down to beat Trabzonspor 3-2 (Adam Davy/PA)

“It’s more difficult because we play against our opponents, good opponents like Trabzonspor are, but we play against the system, and to play against the system is the most difficult thing.

“We played against a good team, against a strong atmosphere, against a VAR, and against the system.

“So, very hard – that’s why we celebrated so much this victory, because it is unbelievable to win this match against so many powerful people.

“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.

“They told me only half of the truth – but with half of the truth, and with my boys, we fight opponents, we fight the system.”

Having led 1-0 at half-time, Fenerbahce fell behind courtesy of two Simon Banza penalties. Edin Dzeko then equalised before Sofyan Amrabat notched the winner deep into stoppage time.

Mourinho, who took a tumble as he attempted a celebratory knee slide at the end, added of Karaoglan: “Isn’t a red card on Bright? Karaoglan was, what, drinking coffee at that time?

“He was alert to give the two penalty decisions when the referee didn’t, and then he was having Turkish tea when it was a clear penalty for us and he didn’t give it.”

In his post-match press conference, Mourinho claimed referees are “afraid to give us decisions”, and said: “Nobody abroad wants to watch the Turkish league. Who wants to watch this Turkish league abroad? Why should they see this?

“I think in London, only my son watches the Turkish league, nobody else. But I’m going to post in my Instagram. I don’t have many, but I think more than five million will watch that penalty, so they will know what the Turkish league is.”

Mourinho’s post of the footage from the match was accompanied by the message: “Watch and smile. If you like it watch the game because the funny situations don’t stop with this clip.”

The image of Osayi-Samuel being tackled had the caption “yellow shirt is only a yellow card”.