Fenerbahce coach Jose Mourinho explained on Wednesday that he skipped the post-match press conference following Saturday’s 3-1 derby defeat to Galatasaray because he “felt disrespected” after being kept waiting for over an hour.
Despite it being Fenerbahce’s first loss of the Super Lig season, leaving them five points behind their rivals, Mourinho clarified that his decision to not attend had no connection to the outcome of the game.
“In 24 years of football, I never in my life escaped from a press conference, especially after a defeat,” Mourinho, who took charge of Fenerbahce in June, said.
“I never had fear of any journalist, any question or any press conference. So [it] wouldn’t be with you that I was going to change my way of being.”
Mourinho shared that he shook hands with Galatasaray coach Okan Buruk after the match and completed the flash interview immediately afterward.
However, he expressed frustration at having to wait so long for the post-match press conference, stating it “makes no sense.” He mentioned that he even stood by the door but was not permitted to enter.
“It has nothing to do with the result, it has nothing to do with anything. It has only to do with something that is correct or is not correct,” Mourinho said. “You finish the game, you go to the flash. And then you wait 15 minutes, 20 minutes, half an hour. And the away coach goes.
“Seventy minutes, I’m sorry, but it’s a lack of respect. So if anybody felt disrespected, I am the one that felt disrespected.”
After the result, Galatasaray posted on their official X account a Photoshopped image of a book titled “The Crying One,” with an image of Mourinho — who famously described himself as a “Special One” during his first spell at Chelsea — looking sad on the cover with the caption: “On sale in stores around Kadıköy.”