Jose Mourinho has had his four-match suspension halved by the Turkish Football Federation following a successful appeal by Fenerbahce.

The 62-year-old Portuguese manager has also seen his fine reduced from 1.6m Turkish lira (£35,000) to 558,000 (£12,200).


Mourinho was punished for comments he made about Turkish referees following Monday’s 0-0 draw against local rivals Galatasaray.

The TFF said it would penalise Mourinho for “his derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee” and because he “accused Turkish football of chaos and disorder with insulting and offensive statements”.

Jose Mourinho was fined for comments he made to the fourth official

Reuters

Fenerbahce had said on Thursday that it would appeal against the penalties after Mourinho was punished for two separate disciplinary matters.

The fallout from Monday’s game has continued to escalate in recent days.

The match against Galatasaray was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge of the fixture.

However, the fourth official was Turkish and Mourinho remained aggrieved by his performance.

After the match, Mourinho revealed he had spoken to the fourth official in the referee’s dressing room, telling him: “If you were a referee, this match would be a disaster.”

The Portuguese manager continued his criticism during his post-match press conference.

Mourinho will miss Sunday’s match against Antalyaspor, having already sat out a Turkish Cup game against Gaziantep FK.

The ban saw Mourinho watch Thursday night’s 4-1 Turkish Cup win from a box.

Mourinho has been in charge of Fenerbahce since the summer after signing a two-year deal.

His tenure has so far seen him win 26 of his 41 matches in charge across all competitions, losing just five.

Jose Mourinho

Jose Mourinho is still planning to sue Galatasaray

Reuters

The fallout from Monday’s game continued on Friday when Mourinho filed a lawsuit against Galatasaray for 1,907,000 Turkish Lira – about £41,000.

This legal action follows accusations that Mourinho had made racist statements.

Mourinho, who had said the Galatasaray bench had been “jumping like monkeys”, said their claims were “completely taken out of context”.

Fenerbahce later released a statement supporting their manager, saying his remarks had been misinterpreted.

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Fenerbahce

Fenerbahce and Galatasaray drew 0-0

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Mourinho’s Fenerbahce are currently second in Turkey’s Super Lig, six points behind fellow Istanbul side Galatasaray.

With 12 matches remaining in the season, the title race remains alive despite the gap.

Fenerbahce also remain in European competition, having reached the Europa League knockout stages.

They will face Rangers for a place in the quarter-finals, with the first leg scheduled for next Thursday.