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Jose Mourinho launches furious rant against ‘little boy’ referee and ‘man of the match’ VAR

Umito November 4, 2024

Jose Mourinho launched into a characteristic rant after his Fenerbahce side’s narrow win over Trabzonspor, calling the referee a “little boy” and saying the video assistant referee had gone from “the invisible man to the man of the match.

Several controversial decisions were made against Fenerbahce, but Sofyan Amrabat’s goal after 12 minutes of stoppage snatched a 3-2 victory and sparked huge celebrations from Mourinho and co.

Trabzonspor were awarded two penalties in the second half following VAR interventions – both converted by Simon Banza – and with the score at 2-2 late in the match, Fener had his own shot on goal denied to challenge Bright Osayi- Samuel. went unpunished.

And those decisions, made by VAR Atilla Karaoglan, left Mourinho absolutely furious, leading him to launch into a post-match tirade against Karaoglan and referee Oguzhan Cakir – which included mocking little boys, men invisible and Turkish tea.

“The referee was just a little boy who was there on the pitch but the referee was Atilla Karaoglan, so the man of the match,” Mourinho fumed to beIN Sports Turkiye. “He goes from invisible man to man of the match.

“It’s not a red card (for the challenge) on Bright. Didn’t Karaoglan, drinking coffee at the time, see this player’s red card? He was careful to give both penalty decisions (to Trabzonspor) when the referee didn’t give them, then he was having Turkish tea when it was a clear penalty for us and didn’t give it.

“We don’t want to see him again in our matches. We don’t want him as VAR. We don’t want him on the field either. Before coming here, I was told a lot of things and I didn’t believe them. It was even worse.

Jose Mourinho was irritated by the referee and VAR during Fenerbahce's victory — Jose Mourinho was irritated by the referee and VAR during Fenerbahce’s victory (REUTERS)

Mourinho’s anger at decisions against his team led to exuberant celebrations when Amrabat scored the winner as substitutes and the entire Fenerbahce coaching staff rushed onto the pitch.

The Portuguese boss attempted his famous knee slide, but failed to execute it correctly and collapsed to the ground before being hugged by one of his players.

But this late joy did not stop Mourinho from highlighting the level of refereeing he has discovered since arriving in Turkey and insisted he would not have joined Fener if he had known all the history.

“I speak for all Fenerbahce fans when I say this,” he added. “That’s why we had a joyous celebration. We won against very, very strong people. We will not give up.

“I’m angry with the Fenerbahce managers who brought me here, they told me half of that. If they told me everything, I wouldn’t come to Fenerbahce.

Fenerbahce’s victory lifted them into second place in the Turkish Super Lig, five points behind bitter rivals Galatasaray.