I'm the opposite of racist, says Fenerbahce coach Mourinho

Fenerbahce's Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho has said he is the opposite of racist following allegations made against him by his club's Turkish rivals Galatasaray.

The 62-year-old was accused by Galatasaray of making racist comments following the 0-0 Super Lig draw between the teams last week, after which he said the home side's bench had been "jumping like monkeys".

"They (Galatasaray) were not clever in the way they attacked me, because they didn't know my past," former Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United coach Mourinho told Sky Sports in an interview.

"They didn't know my connections with Africa, with African people and African players and African charities.

"So instead of going against me, I think it boomeranged and went against them."

Fenerbahce said Mourinho's comments had been taken out of context and that he was suing Galatasaray for 1,907,000 Turkish lira ($52,366.37) due to "the attack on the personal rights" of their Portuguese coach.

"Everyone knows who I am as a person. Everybody knows my bad qualities, but that is not one of my bad qualities. Exactly the opposite!" added Mourinho.

"The most important thing is I know who I am, and the attack accusing racism was a bad choice."

Former Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba and ex-Ghana midfielder Michael Essien, who both played under Mourinho at Chelsea, came out in defence of the Portuguese.

"I've seen the recent comments about Jose Mourinho. Trust me when I tell you I have known Jose for 25 years and he is not a racist and history (past and recent) is there to prove it," Drogba, who also played for Galatasaray, said.

"How can my "Dad" be a racist. Come on guys."

Mourinho also said the derby with Galatasaray would have been a "disaster" if a