Fenerbahce manager Jose Mourinho says he is the “opposite” of racist following the racism allegations made against him by Galatasaray.
Galatasaray said they would “initiate criminal proceedings” against Mourinho after claiming he made “racist statements” following the teams’ 0-0 draw on 24 February.
“They [Galatasaray] were not clever in the way they attacked me, because they didn’t know my past,” Mourinho told Sky Sports.
“They didn’t know my connections with Africa, with African people and African players and African charities.
“So instead of going against me, I think it boomeranged and went against them.”
Following the Istanbul derby, Mourinho said the home bench had been “jumping like monkeys” during the game, with Fenerbahce subsequently saying Mourinho’s comments had been taken “completely taken out of context”.
Mourinho, 64, has also filed a lawsuit against Galatasaray seeking damages worth 1,907,000 Turkish Lira (£41,000).
“Everyone knows who I am as a person. Everybody knows my bad qualities, but that is not one of my bad qualities. Exactly the opposite!” he added.
“The most important thing is I know who I am, and the attack accusing racism was a bad choice.”
Former Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba and ex-Ghana midfielder Michael Essien, who both played under Mourinho at Chelsea, came out in defence of the former Manchester United coach in the aftermath of Galatasaray’s allegations.
“I thank the people who didn’t have a problem to speak [out], especially my boys, my former players. They were a very important voice,” said Mourinho, speaking before Thursday’s Europa League last-16 match against Rangers.
In addition to his comments about the Galatasary coaching staff after the Istanbul derby, Mourinho also repeated his criticism of Turkish referees, saying it would have been a “disaster” to use an official from the country.
The match was refereed by Slovenian Slavko Vincic after both clubs requested a foreign official take charge of the fixture.
Mourinho was handed a four-match ban – which was later reduced to two matches – by the Turkish Football Federation (TFF).
Mourinho was penalised for making “derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee [fourth official]” and because he “accused Turkish football of chaos and disorder with insulting and offensive statements towards both the Turkish football community and all Turkish referees”.
Galatasaray are top of the Turkish Super Lig, four points above Fenerbahce.