Legendary Côte d’Ivoire and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has dismissed claims made by his former club Galatasaray that Fenerbahce’s coach Jose Mourinho is a racist.
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.
Aside the threat of legal action, the Turkish giants also said they would submit official complaints to football’s governing bodies.
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 take charge of the fixture.
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But reacting to the accusations 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 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 his X handle.
“We all know how passionate and heated rivalries can be, and I’ve been lucky enough to experience it.
“Ive 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 ⭐️
“How can my “Dad” be a racist ♂️
Come on guys.”
On Tuesday, Fenerbahce released a arguing 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.”
