José Mourinho is eliminated from the Turkish Cup with Fenerbahçe Istanbul. Things get heated afterwards. The coach of derby opponents Galatasaray wants to celebrate - and then goes down.
03.04.2025, 09:28
dpa
Star coach José Mourinho of Fenerbahçe Istanbul caused a scandal in Turkish football by grabbing the opposing coach's face. The visibly frustrated 62-year-old Portuguese grabbed the nose of his Galatasaray Istanbul counterpart Okan Buruk from behind after the 2:1 home defeat in the cup quarter-finals, causing emotions to boil over. "He grabs my nose from behind while I'm running on. There's a small scratch. That's obviously not very nice or classy," Buruk commented on the incident.
Galatasaray vice-president Metin Öztürk was less diplomatic: "This latest incident is not just an attack on the Galatasaray coach, but on Turkish football. This is Mourinho, I don't know where he gets the courage from. Where in the world can he do that?", Öztürk scolded, according to media reports.
Mourinho misses next title opportunity
Immediately after the grab, Mourinho turned around and walked away. At that moment, Buruk wanted to celebrate victory with his team after a particularly heated Istanbul city derby. In the end, there were 15 minutes of stoppage time alone.
There had also been a scuffle in front of the substitutes' benches shortly before the end. Referee Cihan Aydin then showed three players the red card. Two of them had sat on the bench for the entire match.
Fenerbahçe missed another chance to win a title at their home stadium. Last month, Mourinho and his team were eliminated in the round of 16 of the Europa League. In the Turkish league, Fener are second in the table and six points behind leaders Galatasaray with one game less to play.
