José Mourinho did not have a good word to say about the refereeing system in Turkey on Sunday. The focus: video referee Atilla Karaoglan, whom “Mou” no longer wants at Fenerbahce games in the future.
It was a dramatic game with a positive outcome for Fenerbahce Istanbul. 3-2 in Trabzon, the winning goal came very late in stoppage time from Sofyan Amrabat (90.+11), who was brought in from Florence in August, and thus keeps Fener more or less in the orbit of Erzivale and league leaders Galatasaray. So much for the sport.
But the focus at the Black Sea was above all on José Mourinho. The celebrity coach of the guests celebrated the 3-2 on the pitch of the “Senol Günes” stadium with an unsuccessful slide that, of course, went viral afterwards. Skidding on his knees, the Portuguese got stuck in the green and fell headfirst forward.
Cakir was “just a little boy”
Mourinho’s general criticism of the refereeing system in Turkey, based on the video referee, also went viral. Atilla Karaoglan, mockingly referred to as “Man of the Match” by “Mou”, had awarded the home side two penalties, which Trabzon also used to take a 2-1 lead. Simon Banza converted both shots (59th and 67th). Fener, on the other hand, did not get a supposed hand penalty.
“We didn’t see it, but he was the referee,” Mourinho told beIN SPORTS, going on to describe the actual referee, Oguzhan Cakir, as a ‘little boy running around on the pitch.’ ‘On behalf of all Fenerbahce fans, I say we don’t want him at our games anymore,’ Mourinho said of Karaoglan.
“… then I wouldn’t have come”
The events in Trabzon fit into Mourinho’s eyes to what he has experienced so far. What the referees in the Turkish league do, in his opinion, is “even worse” than he had been told before his move to the Bosporus, claimed the 61-year-old. His team “not only plays against good teams with a lot of good players, but also against the system”. If the Fener officials had “told me the whole truth, I wouldn’t have come,” he complained.
Immherin: Mourinho may have a breather with fewer annoyances. On Thursday, Fener will play in the Europa League at AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands.
