Jose Mourinho has launched a furious rant against VAR, with the outspoken Portuguese claiming that Fenerbahce’s latest ref was “just a little boy”.
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Fener secured dramatic win in five-goal thrillerPortuguese not impressed with match officialsClaims he would have shunned job in TurkeyFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
Former Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester United boss Mourinho believes that his side were on the wrong end of some questionable decisions made by those watching on from afar when battling their way to a 3-2 victory over Trabzonspor that saw the home side awarded two penalties before Sofyan Amrabat grabbed a dramatic winner in the 12th minute of stoppage-time.
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While Mourinho had cause for celebration at the final whistle, he was less than impressed with the performance of the match officials. He has suggested that those on the field were not in control of proceedings, as they acted as puppets for colleagues in the video booth, and has hinted at corruption in the Turkish game that he was not made fully aware of before agreeing to head for Istanbul.
WHAT MOURINHO SAID
During an epic eight-minute rant that followed Fener’s stunning victory over Trabzonspor, Mourinho said: “Today, the man of the match was [VAR referee] Atilla Karaoglan. We didn’t see him, but he was the referee of the match. The referee was just a little boy who was there on the pitch, but the referee was Atilla Karaoglan. He went from the invisible man to the most important man of the match. I speak on behalf of all Fenerbahce fans: we don’t want him again. We don’t want him because it smells bad. We don’t want him. We don’t want him on the pitch, but on the VAR even less.
“I know what I was told, even before I came. I didn’t believe. It’s even worse than I was told. But I prefer to be on this side. It’s more difficult. It’s more difficult because we play against good opponents like Trabzonspor is: good opponent with lots of good players and a historical coach. But we play against a system. And to play against a system is the most difficult thing. Tonight we play against a good team, against a strong atmosphere, against VAR, and against a system. So very hard. That’s why we celebrated this victory so much. It’s unbelievable to win this match against so many powerful people. We are not going to give up. We know what we have. I blame the Fenerbahce people that brought me here! They told me only half of the truth. They didn’t tell me the whole truth, because if they told me the whole truth I wouldn’t come! But with half of the truth, with my boys we fight the opponent, we fight the system.”
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Mourinho went on to say: “He (Karaoglan) was alert to give the two penalties that the referee didn’t give, and then he was having Turkish tea when it was a clear penalty for us and he didn’t give it. So either he was sleeping, or he was drinking his tea and he didn’t see it. So let’s have a laugh, because if we take it too seriously….
“In the end, I’m working in Turkey. It’s not my country. I care because it’s my job and I care because it’s my club. But I think you Turkish, you should care about it! You Turkish, you should speak, not me. You should denounce. You should say what is going on, year after year. You should do it, not me. Because I will be the one under attack, the one the system will criticise. The system will try to punish me, the system will try to close my mouth.”