Jose Mourinho at centre of Turkish scandal as leaked texts force resignations
Turkish football has been rocked by a leaked messages scandal in which it is alleged governing body chiefs were plotting to "make pay" after the Fenerbahce boss was "tolerated too much."
TFF committee president Celal Nuri Demirturk and the entire board of directors have resigned en masse after a series of communications were leaked in relation to Mourinho’s complaints about refereeing standards in February following a draw with closest rivals Galatasaray.
The former and boss was banned for four games and fined £35,000 for “derogatory and offensive statements towards the Turkish referee" and accusing "Turkish football of chaos and disorder with insulting and offensive statements towards both the Turkish football community and all Turkish referees.”
Mourinho subsequently said that he was suing Galatasaray following an accusation of racism from the Istanbul rivals after he said their bench “jumped around like monkeys” during the scoreless draw. He had previously claimed Turkish referees were "worse than I thought" and "smell bad."
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But the leaked messages have prompted fury with Fenerbahce releasing a statement questioning the impartiality of the sport.
A club spokesperson said: “Our club has made an official application to the Turkish Federation in response to the correspondence that has been made public today and is claimed to belong to members of the Professional Football Disciplinary Board.
“We believe that this hostile mentality, which clearly violates the principle of impartiality and is based on showdowns and revenge, has no place in Turkish Sports.”
The club’s general secretary Burak Kizilhan added: "If these allegations are true, not only would the impartiality of the relevant board be compromised, but the institutional reputation and public trust in the Turkish Football Federation would be seriously damaged.
"For individuals who serve on one of the most important boards with the duty to establish justice in Turkish football to be involved in such statements would render the concept of 'discipline' ineffective and constitute a clear attack on the principles of impartiality and equality."
In another meeting between Fener and Galatasaray in early April, Mourinho approached opposition manager Okan Buruk at full time and grabbed his nose - leading to another three-game ban.
Mourinho had also linked himself with the Rangers job and said he would be keen on taking over a struggler so he could avoid Turkish referees.