Bayern Munich manager, Vincent Kompany, has condemned José Mourinho over his reaction to the racism controversy involving Vinícius Júnior, describing the Portuguese coach’s remarks as a “huge mistake.”
The controversy erupted after Real Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Benfica in Lisbon on Tuesday, when Vinicius alleged that Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni racially abused him during a confrontation.
The Brazilian forward told the referee he had been called a “monkey” during the incident.
Following the match, Mourinho criticised Vinicius, accusing him of provoking Benfica’s players and supporters with his goal celebration in the first leg of the Champions League knockout phase play-off tie. UEFA has since confirmed it will investigate the “allegations of discriminatory behaviour.”
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Bayern Munich coach Kompany reflected on his own experiences with racism during his playing career and said he was most disturbed by the reaction off the pitch.
“You have the leader of an organisation, Jose Mourinho, who basically attacks the character of Vinicius Junior by bringing in the type of celebration. To discredit what Vinicius is doing at this moment,” Kompany told reporters on Friday.
“And for me in terms of leadership, it’s a huge mistake and it’s something that we should not accept.”
Kompany stressed that focusing on Vinicius’ celebration detracts from what he described as a genuine emotional response to alleged racist abuse.
“You have Vini Jr, who, when you watch the action itself, his reaction cannot be faked. You can see it. 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,” said Kompany.
“There is absolutely no reason for Vini Jr to go and do this, and he does it, and when he does it, I think in his mind he’s doing it more because it’s the right thing to do in that moment.”
– Difficult to prove –
Despite his strong stance, Kompany acknowledged the complexity of proving such allegations unless the accused player admits wrongdoing.
“You have a player (Prestianni) who’s hiding what he’s saying in his shirt… You have a player who’s complaining, you have a player who says he didn’t do it, and I think unless the player himself comes forward, it’s difficult, it’s a difficult case,” said the Belgian.
Kompany added that if the allegations are substantiated, there should still be room for accountability, apology and proportional disciplinary action.
“If it is true that the player from Benfica has said something as bad as what he said, I would love a situation where there’s still a room where somebody can apologise. And say I’m sorry I made a mistake.
“This has an impact on the sentence as well, so the sentence should be A or B. But if you admit that you’ve made a mistake, There should be an opportunity as well to say that hey, nobody’s perfect.”
Returning to Mourinho, Kompany said he would not allow the episode to define the veteran manager’s reputation.
“He’s made a mistake. Hopefully in the future it won’t happen like this again and that we can move forward and grow.”
