Jose Mourinho was shown a yellow card on Sunday because he used his laptop to protest a referee’s decision. Only yellow if you take a look at the rules.
José Mourinho during the game against Antalyaspor – on the right is the laptop that would later become famous.
picture alliance / Anadolu
Even as coach of Fenerbahce, José Mourinho still occasionally manages to write global football headlines. On Sunday it was that time again when “The Special One” saw a truly special yellow card.
In the 77th minute of the SüperLig away game at Antalyaspor (2-0), he placed a laptop in front of a TV camera in protest against a goal by his attacker Edin Dzeko that was disallowed due to offside to prove that it was a wrong decision . In his opinion, Antalya’s left-back Güray Vural canceled the offside in the scene. “It was a correct goal,” Mourinho claimed at the press conference afterwards.
The VAR provided no evidence of this, nor did the still image that the TV viewers saw on the laptop. In the end, only the goals from Dusan Tadic (63rd) and Thalisson (own goal, 81st) counted. “My analyst put the laptop in front of me with the left-back position,” which “probably” wasn’t part of the VAR analysis, said Mourinho. “We had the tactical camera view that gives us the entire view of the game.” That didn’t match the statue either.
Even though he “didn’t say a single word” and “didn’t apply any kind of pressure,” Mourinho accepted the yellow card: “It’s okay.” After all, the Portuguese could have received a red card. According to IFAB football rules, team officials are ejected if there is “use of unauthorized electronic or communication devices and/or disorderly conduct resulting from the use of such devices.”
Mourinho has some advice for Turkish football
Mourinho’s protest is also piquant because the SüperLig deliberately used foreign video referees at the end of last season. Club president Ali Koc had previously accused the video assistants of systematically discriminating against Fenerbahce. “I like good VARs. Whether someone is Turkish or another nationality doesn’t matter to me,” Mourinho said on Sunday. “I just want a VAR to help the referee make the right decision.”
He still had some advice for the league officials after the game. One of the “many dubious situations” he listed on the PK included a great chance in the second minute when it could not be clearly proven whether the ball had completely crossed Antalya’s goal line. “Turkish football needs goal-line technology sooner or later to take a step forward,” Mourinho said. “If possible, sooner.”
