‘I would’t have come if they had told me the truth’: Mourinho on refereeing in Turkey

Trabzon (Turkey):  Jose Mourinho, known world-wide for his iconic press conferences, delivered yet another controversial post-match speech following Fenerbahce’s 3-2 win against Trabzonspor at the Papara Park on Sunday, in which he ripped into Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) for two controversial penalties given against his side. ‘The Special One’ claimed that he would not have joined Fenerbahce if he had been told the truth about the state of refereeing in Turkey. “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 and my boys, we fight opponents and the system. “He (Karaoglan) was alert to give the two penalty decisions which 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,” said Mourinho in the post-game conference. Mourinho’s side took a 1-0 lead in the game against Trabzonspor thanks to goal by former Manchester United midfielder Fred. What followed were two penalty decisions being given by the VAR official in charge Atilla Karaoglan against the away side, which saw Simon Banzascore a brace and take a 2-1 lead in the game. Edin Dzeko’s 75th minute equaliser and Sofyan Amrabat’s 90+12 minute winner guided Mourinho’s side to victory. The Portuguese head coach took shots at the VAR in charge claiming he does not want to see him in charge of another Fenerbahce game. “The man of the match was Atilla Karaoglan. We didn’t see him but he was the referee. The referee was just a little boy that was there on the pitch, but the referee was Atilla Karaoglan. He goes from the invisible man to the most important man in the match. “I think I am speaking on behalf of every Fenerbahce fan – we don’t want him again. We don’t want him as a VAR. We don’t want him on the pitch but, on the VAR, even less,” he added. –IANS