Chelsea legend Didier Drogba stands up for Jose Mourinho after racism allegations

Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has defended Jose Mourinho amid accusations of racism, describing the Portuguese as his "dad".

Mourinho, now in charge at Fenerbahce, has been the subject of planned legal action from rivals Galatasaray. Gala have announced plans to initiate criminal proceedings in the light of what they describe as " derogatory statements directed towards the Turkish people".

The action relates to comments Mourinho is alleged to have made after the recent match between the two teams, which ended goalless. Fenerbahce have stood by their manager, claiming his words were taken out of context.

As well as playing for Mourinho at Chelsea, Drogba spent a year and a half with Galatasaray and won the Super Lig with them in 2013. The Ivorian striker has come to the defence of his old boss, with whom he enjoyed a strong relationship in West London.

"Dear @GalatasaraySK, you know how proud I was to wear the yellow and red jersey and my love for the most decorated club in Turkey!!" Drogba wrote on social media. "We all know how passionate and heated rivalries can be, and I’ve been lucky enough to experience it.

"I've seen the recent comments about Jose Mourinho. Trust me when I tell you I have known Jose for... years and he is not a racist and history (past and recent ) is there to prove it.

" Let’s focus on our games, support our brilliant lions and let’s win the league to get close to our five stars," he added [each of the four stars currently on the club badge represents five league titles]. "How can my “Dad” be a racist. Come on guys."

Mourinho took over as Fenerbahce manager in June 2024, five months after leaving previous club Roma. The Istanbul club sit second in the table - six points behind rivals Gala but 12 points clear of third place - and will go into the Champions League qualifying round if that's where they end the season.

Fenerbahce failed to make it through Champions League qualification this term, but remain in the Europa League. They finished 24th in the league phase, but a 5-2 aggregate victory over Anderlecht in the knockout play-offs has taken them through to a last-16 meeting with Rangers.

Galatasaray, who are managed by Okan Buruk, dropped out of the Europa League in the play-off round. They missed out on a top eight finish after losing their final league phase game, and were beaten 6-3 on aggregate by Dutch side AZ to leave the competition before the round of 16.

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