Former Super Eagles captain John Obi Mikel has described as a joke accusations by Galatasaray that 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.
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 take charge of the fixture.
Galatasaray, in a statement, said they would initiate criminal proceedings against the Portuguese.
Also, the club said they would submit official complaints to football’s governing bodies.
But reacting to the accusations on Obi One Podcast, Mikel dismissed it as baseless.
“For them to label our African dad racist for me that’s a joke. Not Jose Mourinho, not someone that I know really well, someone we all know really well,” Mikel who played under Mourinho at Chelsea said.
“This is football politics in Turkey and Jose Mourinho is somebody that loves everybody, a beautiful human being, the straightforward human being you can ever meet in your life. He says it as it is he loved us as his own children
“So for me this comment, this situation I don’t even want to get into it because it’s baseless.”
Mikel’a former Chelsea teammate Didier Drogba also dismissed the claims by his former club Galatasaray that Mourinho is 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.”
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.”
