Bayern Munich boss Vincent Kompany has slammed Jose Mourinho following his comments about Vinicius Junior aftermath of the alleged racial abuse against Benfica.
The Brazilian was subject to alleged racial abuse from Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni during their Champions League tie.
Mourinho suggested Vinicius incited the incident.
On Tuesday, Vinicius refused to return to the field after suffering alleged racial abuse from Gianluca Prestianni during a Champions League game in Lisbon.
UEFA has appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to investigate the incident but Sky Sports News has been told the process could take up to three weeks to conclude.
Post-match, Mourinho suggested that it was Vinicius who had instigated the home fans with his celebration.
He said: “When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way.” He followed that up by adding: “There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. Every stadium that Vinicius plays [in] something happens. Always.”
Mourinho has been widely criticised for his remarks in the aftermath, and on Friday, Bayern Munich boss Kompany slammed the Portuguese’s comments.
He said: “It’s a difficult topic. I saw it happen live and there are a couple of different components to the story. First, there is what happens on the pitch. Second is what’s happening with the fans as well. Third, there is what happens after the game. Those three things, there are some clear separations we need to make.
“So what happens on the pitch, you have Vini Jr, who when you watch the action itself, his reaction cannot be faked. You can see his reaction is an emotional reaction. I don’t see any benefit for him to go to the referee and put all this misery on his shoulders.
“There is absolutely no reason for Vini Jr to go and do this and he does it, and when he does it, he is doing it because in his mind it is the right thing to do at that moment.
“Next to him you have Kylian Mbappe, who normally always stays quite diplomatic, and Kylian Mbappe is really clear about what he heard and what he saw and is even more clear after the game when he speaks about it.
“So all of this happens. But then of course you have a player who is hiding what he is saying in his shirt and in the end you have a player who is complaining and a player who said he didn’t do it and unless the player himself comes forward it is a difficult case.
“I understand this. But then in the background you see in the stadium there were people doing monkey signs, it’s in the video. And for me, even worse, and I’m clear in what I’m saying, is what happens after the game.
“You have the leader of an organisation, Jose Mourinho, who attacks the character of Vinicius Jr by bringing in the type of celebration to discredit what Vinicius is doing in this moment.
“In terms of leadership, it’s a huge mistake and something we should not accept.”
In his comments, Mouirnho appeared to cite Eusebio’s legendary figure at Benfica as proof that those associated with the club could not be racist, a claim which Komany also responded to.
“On top of it he mentions the name of Eusebio, to say that Benfica cannot be racist because the best player in the history of Benfica is Eusebio.
“Do you know what black players had to go through in the 60s? Was he there to travel with Eusébio every away game and see what he went through, every place in Europe?
“Because my dad is a black person from the 1960s also who made his way, probably at the time the only option they had was to be quiet. To say nothing and to be above it and to be 10 times better to get a little bit of credit and for people to say ‘actually he’s good.
“That was Eusebio’s life, probably. Today, to use his name to make a point about Vini Jr who’s actually, finally in a situation where he can say something about it … there are a lot of players in different leagues in Europe who don’t have a voice. There are players in Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia if something happens to them and they are black players they have zero chance to have any kind of support.”
