Turkish club Fenerbahçe has come out in defence of their coach, Jose Mourinho, for pinching the nose of Galatasaray’s coach, Okan Buruk.
The incident happened after the Turkish League Cup clash between both sides on Wednesday when Jose Mourinho was captured pinching Buruk’s nose from behind, after which he fell to the ground.
On Thursday, Galatasaray accused Mourinho of physically assaulting Buruk while calling for the Portuguese coach to be sanctioned by Fenerbahçe.
However, on Friday, Fenerbahçe released a statement in defence of Jose Mourinho, claiming that he was provoked by Buruk.
The statement reads, “Okan Buruk came towards our technical director, Jose Mourinho, who was in a meeting with the referees yesterday after the match, under the pretext of shaking the referees’ hands.
“He [then] provoked our technical director with gestures and discourses and had the audacity to make a disrespectful hand gesture after crossing the police line.
They also accused Buruk of throwing himself to the ground as if he had been shot.
“After our technical director touched his nose momentarily in the face of these provocations, the person concerned threw himself to the ground in an exaggerated manner.
“The absurdity and playfulness of a person whose nose was touched jumping to the ground and writhing for seconds is public knowledge. It is obvious that the images of this person throwing himself on the ground from his football-playing days continued in his career as a coach and that this attitude is a characteristic stance.”
Fenerbahçe urged the Turkish Football Federation to investigate the incident with a cause-and-effect link.
“It is clear that the evaluation of the ugly provocations and what happened afterwards should not be one-sided but should be based on a cause-and-effect relationship.”
The match ended 2-1 in favour of Galatasaray, which earned them a place in the semi-final of the Turkish League Cup.
It is the latest in the list of Jose Mourinho’s clashes with Galatasaray since he joined Fenerbahce in 2024.
In September 2024, Galatasaray labelled Mourinho as the “Crying One” after he lost his first Istanbul Derby 3-1 at home, a first defeat of the season for the special one.
Galatasaray took to social media to call Mourinho “The Crying One” about his self-appointed “Special One” nickname.
In February 2025, Mourinho accused the Galatasaray bench of jumping like monkeys following a 0-0 Super Lig draw. He also made derogatory remarks against a Turkish referee after the game.
In response, Galatasaray threatened to initiate criminal proceedings and to report Mourinho to FIFA and UEFA for what they termed racist statements.
Mourinho and Fenerbahce responded by filing a lawsuit against Galatasaray for an “attack on the personal rights” of their coach, while denying that Mourinho had used racist language.
Mourinho is expected to be sanctioned by the Turkish Football Federation.
