By Korede James
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has dismissed claims by his former club Galatasaray that Fenerbahce head coach Jose Mourinho made racist remarks.
Mourinho was accused of making ‘racist statements’ by Galatasaray following his post-match comments after Monday’s derby with Fenerbahce which ended 0-0.
Galatasaray, in a statement, said they would initiate criminal proceedings against the Portuguese coach.
Aside from the threat of legal action, Galatasaray also said they would submit official complaints to football’s governing bodies.
Speaking in his post-match press conference after the derby, Mourinho said the Galatasaray bench had been “jumping like monkeys” and also repeated his criticism of Turkish referees, saying it would have been a “disaster” to use an official from the country.
Monday’s match was handled by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official to take charge of the fixture.
But reacting to the Galatasaray accusations Ivorian great Drogba, who played under Mourinho at Chelsea from 2004 to 2007 and in the 2014-2015 season, posited that the former Real Madrid and Manchester United coach is never a racist.
“Dear @GalatasaraySK, you know how proud I was to wear the yellow and red jersey and my love for the most decorated club in Turkey!!” Drogba wrote on Xgmqq.
“We all know how passionate and heated rivalries can be, and I’ve been lucky enough to experience it.
“I’ve seen the recent comments about Jose Mourinho.
“Trust me when I tell you I have known Jose for xx years and he is not a racist and history (past and recent ) is there to prove it.
“Let’s focus on our games, support our brilliant lions and let’s win the league to get close to our 5 stars.
“How can my “Dad” be a racist?
Come on guys.”
Meanwhile Fenerbahce, in a statement on Tuesday, argued that Mourinho’s quotes had been completely taken out of context and deliberately distorted.
“As any rational person can see and understand, these statements used by José Mourinho during the match to describe the overreaction of the opposing team’s technical committee to the referee’s decisions cannot be associated with racism in any way,” said the statement.
“Trying to portray this statement as a racist statement is a completely malicious approach. We inform the public that we will use our legal rights regarding this incompetent slander, which is thrown in order to take the rivalry off the field, change and manipulate the agenda.”
