José Mourinho slams 'bad smelling' Turkish league in vintage rant

Updated: 05 Nov, 2024 • 0 • min read

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José Mourinho slams 'bad smelling' Turkish league in vintage rant

Fenerbahçe boss José Mourinho exploded in a vintage rant as he described the Turkish league as "too grey, too dark, and smelling bad."

The 61-year-old let rip after watching his Fenerbahçe side clinch a dramatic 3-2 win at rivals Trabzonspor on Sunday.

Mourinho's men were 1-0 up when their opponents were given two controversial penalties following VAR checks.

The Portuguese tactician was then left incensed when a foul on Bright Oyasi-Samuel went unpunished.

And after Fenerbahçe levelled things up, Mourinho went ballistic when VAR failed to give his side a penalty after the ball struck the arm of Trabzonspor player Simon Banza inside the 18-yard box.

The former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager had the last laugh though, with Sofyan Amrabat netting an incredible winner in the TWELFTH minute of added time.

READ MORE: José Mourinho snubbed chance to sign Ollie Watkins for Tottenham

Clearly in no mood for fun in the post-match press conference, Mourinho unleashed one of his boldest interviews to date.

In a lengthy rant, Mourinho claimed too few people around Europe watched Turkish football regularly to see the level was not high enough.

Who wants to watch this Turkish league abroad? They have the Premier League, the French league, the German league, the Portuguese league, the Dutch league. Why should they see this?

When the president met me, the director, even before that I met other important and respectful clubs in Turkey. I couldn't believe that this was the dimension. It's too grey, it's too dark, smells bad.

I don't think abroad many people watch the Turkish league. I think in London only my son watches the Turkish league, nobody else.

I'm going to post on my Instagram. I don't have many but I think more than five million will watch more of that penalty. So they will know what the Turkish league is.

Mourinho followed through with his threat to post the handball incident on Instagram, whit the video receiving more than 700,000 likes in less than 24 hours.

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A post shared by Jose Mourinho (@josemourinho)

Mourinho's press conference tirade followed another rant in the tunnel immediately after the full time whistle.

I know what I was told, even before I came. I didn't believe. It's even worse than I was told. But I prefer to be on this side.

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.

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 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.