Harry who?! Watkins makes England case as Kane watches on

How it feels to beat Lionel Messi

Why Man Utd & Liverpool both want Argentine teen Soler

Top 25 African players of the 21st century - ranked

Vini's nightmare goes on as Brazil drop more WCQ points

Mendes responds to Ronaldo criticism of Portugal players

Raphinha surprises wonderkid Yamal with £10k gold iPhone

Real Madrid midfielder announces shock retirement in emotional letter

'Please leave him alone!' - Deschamps sends out Mbappe plea

Rodri admits he wouldn't have even chosen Vinicius Jr. as Ballon d'Or runner-up

‘Can't think long term’ – Ronaldo admits he may not reach 1,000 goals

Endrick set to be offered 'escape route' out of Real Madrid

Twellman reportedly investigated for physical altercation

<p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><p style="display: none;">Article continues below</p><script type="application/json" data-placement="fcplayer-semantic">{"type":"fcplayer-semantic","data":{"embedCode":"//cdn.fcp.codes/embed-code-template/embed-code-template.js#SEMANTIC_5704afb8-c10b-4ba5-9cb4-d7fb6098ef90"}}</script><ul><li>Fener secured dramatic win in five-goal thriller</li><li>Portuguese not impressed with match officials</li><li>Claims he would have shunned job in Turkey</li></ul><table><tbody><tr><td><a href="https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va2ivxLJJhzdzbJdwo0n"><strong>Follow GOAL on WhatsApp!</strong></a> 🟢📱</td></tr></tbody></table>

'The referee was just a little boy' - Jose Mourinho launches furious rant against VAR and jokes he wouldn't have joined Fenerbahce if club told him 'the whole truth' in extraordinary corruption allegation

Club Friendlies

Fenerbahce

Zenit St. Petersburg

Super Lig

Trabzonspor

Adana Demirspor

<p>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 <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/jose-mourinho-injured-fenerbahce-chelsea-man-utd-star-nemanja-matic/bltedb28d809910f48b" target="_blank">battling their way to a 3-2 victory over Trabzonspor</a> that saw the home side awarded two penalties before Sofyan Amrabat grabbed a dramatic winner in the 12th minute of stoppage-time.</p>

WHAT HAPPENED?

<p>While Mourinho had cause for celebration at the final whistle, he was <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/jose-mourinho-claims-hasn-t-been-getting-honest-treatment-uefa-since-2023-europa-league-final-fenerbahce-boss-lionel-messi-comparison/bltc1853f3bb60c9dfc" target="_blank">less than impressed with the performance of the match officials</a>. 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.</p><center><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="tr" dir="ltr">🎙 Fenerbahçe Teknik Direktörü Jose Mourinho'nun maç sonu açıklamaları. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TSvFB?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TSvFB</a> <a href="https://t.co/kjbJ9PbCU4">pic.twitter.com/kjbJ9PbCU4</a></p>— beIN SPORTS Türkiye (@beINSPORTS_TR) <a href="https://twitter.com/beINSPORTS_TR/status/1853149316212273212?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

</center>

THE BIGGER PICTURE

<p>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.</p><p>“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.”</p>

WHAT MOURINHO SAID

<p>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….</p><p>“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.”</p>

DID YOU KNOW?

<p>Mourinho has a long and colourful history when it comes to questioning the performance of referees and VAR, with the 61-year-old tactician having taken issue with <a href="https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/jose-mourinho-ready-premier-league-return-manage-club-bottom-avoid-uefa-competitions-man-utd-draw-red-card/bltabf4cbaf43dc8209" target="_blank">officiating teams in Portugal, England, Italy, Spain and Turkey</a>.</p>

WHAT NEXT?

'The referee was just a little boy' - Jose Mourinho launches furious rant against VAR and jokes he wouldn't have joined Fenerbahce if club told him 'the whole truth' in extraordinary corruption allegation | Goal.com

Jose Mourinho has launched a furious rant against VAR, with the outspoken Portuguese claiming that Fenerbahce’s latest ref was “just a little boy”.

&apos;The referee was just a little boy&apos; - Jose Mourinho launches furious rant against VAR and jokes he wouldn&apos;t have joined Fenerbahce if club told him &apos;the whole truth&apos; in extraordinary corruption allegation