Jose Mourinho v Turkish football – what is going on with the Fenerbahce manager?
“Galatasaray and Fenerbahce Derby are the largest sporting events in Türkiye,” said Burak Abatay of the BBC Turkish.
“Stop life on Derby Night – Even the horrible traffic in Istanbul has been alleviated. It’s a very huge tension. The game (last night) was in this tension.
“Turkish football has been in chaos for a long time. The main discussion is usually about referees.
“Last season, a referee was attacked by the club’s president at the center of the court. Last season, two teams left the court. Another club did the same this season.
“In the middle of the season, foreign referees began to serve as VAR referees in all competitions, but that did not reduce controversy.
“Ibrahim Haciosmanoglu, president of the Turkish Football Federation, said the reason for foreign referees to preside over the derby is to ‘prevent these discussions, rather than putting the referee in a controversial position’.”
Abatay added: “After the game, Galatasaray’s manager Okan Buruk was named Jose Mourinho.
“Many football analysts say Turkish football needs more structural and long-term changes.”
Mourinho’s own club demands changes, Fenabas vice president acun ilicali claims there is no agreement In Turkey, it is “different from Britain”.
“In England, if someone comes from Newcastle, you can’t be a referee for Newcastle games.” “The problem with Turkey is that no one asks the referee, which team do you support?” We don’t know – they can be Galatasaray’s Fans or Fenerbahce fans. ”
UEFA told BBC Sport IT to “refere with its 55 member associations”, but the responsibility lies with the individual associations in managing their officers.
In England, professional referees must announce which teams they support as part of the transparency measure – thus, they avoid matches involving their own teams.
