Jose Mourinho ban halved and £35k fine reduced after winning appeal

The Fenerbahce manager was punished by the Turkish Football Federation following comments he made following the Istabul derby against Galatasaray, where he took aim at Turkish referees.

Fenerbahce were held to a goalless draw away to their bitter local rivals on Monday night.

Following the match, Mourinho was accused of racism by his side's opponents for comments he had made about the Galatasaray bench 'jumping like ms'.

Fenerbahce later said in a statement that his remarks had been taken 'completely out of context' and the manager is now suing Galatasaray for 'moral damages'.

However, the federation said they were charging Mourinho on two other counts - the first for 'his derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee' 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'.

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The Portuguese was initially punished for his criticism of the officials with a four-match ban and £35,194 fine.

But, after an appeal by his club, Mourinho's ban has been halved to two matches, while his fine has been reduced to £12,200.

The match had been officiated by Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic after requests from both clubs to have an overseas official take charge of the match.

Mourinho remained aggrieved by the Turkish fourth official, however, and made his feelings known during his post-match press conference.

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He revealed that he had spoken to the fourth official in the referee's dressing room at full-time, telling him: "If you were a referee, this match would be a disaster."

The ban saw Mourinho watch Thursday night's 4-1 Turkish Cup win at Gaziantep from a box. The boss will also miss Sunday's league clash with Antalyaspor.

Jose Mourinho gives opposition team talk after smashing them 3-0 as Fenerbahce beat Kasımpasa

Following the draw with Galatasaray, Fenerbahce remain six points adrift of the league leaders with 12 matches remaining.

Mourinho has been in charge of the club since the summer after penning a two-year deal.

His tenure has so far seen him win 26 of his 41 matches in charge across all competitions, losing just five.

Fenerbahce also remain in Europe after reaching the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

They will face Rangers for a place in the quarter-finals, with the first leg scheduled for next Thursday.