Jose Mourinho has been handed a three-match ban by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) for grabbing opposition manager Okan Buruk’s face at the end of Fenerbahce’s 2-1 Turkish Cup defeat against rivals Galatasaray.
Mourinho appeared to pinch Buruk’s nose following the final whistle, with the Galatasaray boss falling to the pitch and holding his face in his hands.
Buruk was lying on his back as former Chelsea and Manchester United boss Mourinho was dragged away from the remarkable flashpoint.
Mourinho, who has also received a fine of around £6,000 for what the TFF described as “unsportsmanlike behaviour”, is now set to miss key games against Trabzonspor, Sivasspor and Kayserispor, with Fenerbahce six points behind Galatasaray at the top of the Turkish Super Lig with a game in hand.
The incident happened after Mourinho had just seen his side crash out in the quarter-finals of the Turkish Cup after Victor Osimhen sent Galatasaray on their way to victory with a first-half double.
Sebastian Szymanski pulled one back for the hosts on the stroke of half-time but Buruk’s side saw out the ill-tempered win, which saw three players sent off in stoppage time.
Mert Hakan was dismissed for Fenerbahce, with Kerem Demirbay and Baris Alper Yilmaz also seeing red for the visitors.
Alongside Mourinho, Yilmaz and Demirbay, as well as Fenerbahce player Fred, have been handed three-match bans. Fenerbahce’s Hakan has also been suspended for one match.
Fenerbahce fully behind Mourinho
In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News‘ Gary Cotterill, Fenerbahce board member Fethi Pekin gave his full backing to Mourinho, saying the club hired the Portuguese boss to raise the bar.
“Now, let me be absolutely clear, Fenerbahce didn’t bring Jose Mourinho here to maintain the status quo. We brought him here to disrupt it,” he told Sky Sports News.
“Mourinho represents everything this club is aiming for. Ambition, courage, and a relentless desire to win.
“He does not take losing as an option.
“He is not here to coach 90 minutes of football. He is here to build a winning culture, and sometimes that means speaking up and standing firm in the face of provocation.
“What happened in the recent derby match was not just a football rivalry. It was an orchestrated effort to provoke our bench, our squad, our players, and our manager.
“Mourinho responded with a fire in himself and defiance of someone who refuses to be intimidated. And let me say this very, very, very clearly, as the board of Fenerbahce, we are fully behind Jose Mourinho.
“We did not hire Mourinho to adapt to this system.
“We hired him to raise the bar. And raising the bar makes people uncomfortable. That is fine. We are not here to play by old rules.”
