Fenerbahçe manager Jose Mourinho has been given a four-game ban due to the comments he made about Turkish referees.

According to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), Mourinho made "derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee."

What Happened?

The comments against referees were made after a 0-0 draw against Galatasaray on Monday. It should be noted that both clubs requested for a foreign official to take charge of the game.

In this case, it was Slavko Vincic, a Slovenian, who refereed the game, according to the ESPN. In a post-game interview, Mourinho's interview highlighted how Vincic is not from Turkey.

"The performance of the referee was a top performance," he said. "Anyone, not just from this country but also abroad, watched a big football match. I think the man responsible for that was the referee."

When asked about an incident that took place during the game involving one of his players, Mourinho replied, "Again, I have to thank the referee because with a Turkish referee after the big dive and the first minute and their bench jumping like monkeys on top of the kids."

"A Turkish referee would have a yellow card after one minute, and after five minutes I would have to change him," he added.

Fenerbahçe, Galatasaray to Take Action

Galatasaray has already vowed to report the "racist statements" Mourinho made to FIFA and UEFA. However, Fenerbahçe is fighting back and is threatening legal action "against this baseless accusation" made against its manager.

"As any rational person can see and understand, these statements used by José Mourinho during the match to describe the overreaction of the opposing team's technical committee to the referee's decisions cannot be associated with racism in any way," Fenerbahçe said in a statement.

"Trying to portray this statement as a racist statement is a completely malicious approach," the statement added. "We inform the public that we will use our legal rights regarding this incompetent slander, which is thrown in order to take the rivalry off the field, change and manipulate the agenda."