Galatasaray Officially Responds to Mourinho's Remarks: Fenerbahce Player Interviews Delayed the Timing

After the match between Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray, Mourinho did not attend the press conference, stating he had waited too long. In response, Galatasaray issued a statement.



Galatasaray Statement in Full:

"Due to public misunderstanding regarding this matter, I feel it is necessary to clarify. The derby match ended at 22:00, and according to TFF (Turkish Football Federation) regulations, both teams must complete player interviews within 25 minutes after the match. However, the home team had not started player interviews by 22:40. Due to the opponent's failure to begin interviews on time and in violation of TFF regulations, our head coach had to wait until the opponent's interviews concluded, even though he was 'ready.'

When I discussed bringing the head coach to the interview with the broadcaster's representatives, they stated, 'Fenerbahçe has not yet brought their players. We can only bring the coach after they finish.' Therefore, our interview time was delayed, and the press conference took place immediately after the interviews concluded. Each club's press conference has a time limit of 20 minutes; however, that day our press conference lasted only 14 minutes, ending 6 minutes early.

In summary, the delay in the opponent's player interviews caused our head coach to arrive late for the press conference. We hope the public understands this."