Fenerbache have come out in defence of their coach Jose Mourinho, claiming he was provoked by his Galatasaray counterpart Okan Buruk following Wednesday’s Turkish Cup game between the sides.
Mourinho, whose team lost 2-1 in the quarterfinal, was seen grabbing the nose of Buruk following a scuffle that broke out between the players on the pitch after the final whistle.
“Okan Buruk came towards our technical director Jose Mourinho, who was in a meeting with the referees yesterday after the match, under the pretext of shaking the referees’ hands,” a Fenerbahce statement said
“He [then] provoked our technical director with gestures and discourses, and had the audacity to make a disrespectful hand gesture after crossing the police line.”
Buruk, who dropped to the ground holding his face after Mourinho grabbed his nose, said of the episode after the game: “He [Mourinho] squeezed my nose from behind while I was going on. There was a slight scratch. I won’t exaggerate about it, but it’s not a very stylish thing.”
However, Fenerbahce felt Buruk’s reaction was overblown.
“After our technical director touched his nose momentarily in the face of these provocations, the person concerned threw himself to the ground in an exaggerated manner,” the club said.
“The absurdity and playfulness of a person whose nose was touched jumping to the ground and writhing for seconds is public knowledge. It is obvious that the images of this person throwing himself on the ground from his football playing days continued in his career as a coach and that this attitude is a characteristic stance.”
Source: ESPN
