Vincent Kompany has expressed his disapointment in Mourinho over racial abuse comment
Head coach of Bayern Munich, Vincent Kompany, has criticised legendary manager José Mourinho for failing to condemn the alleged racism against Vinicius Jnr.
The match between Benfica and Real Madrid at the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, was halted for 10 minutes after Vinícius Jr reported racial abuse by Gianluca Prestianni to referee François Letexier. Vinícius and his teammates temporarily left the field in protest.
Replays showed the Argentine footballer lifting his jersey to cover his mouth while speaking to Vinícius Jnr.
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Reacting to the incident, Mourinho blamed Vinícius for provoking the fans with his goal celebration dance, a comment that sparked backlash.
Kompany expressed disappointment in Mourinho’s remarks, saying they appeared to justify the actions of the player rather than objectively addressing the issue.
“On top of that, Mourinho mentioned the name of Eusébio. He said Benfica cannot be racist because their best-ever player was Eusébio. Do you know what Black players had to go through in the 60s? Was he there to travel with Eusébio to every away game and see what he went through?
“To use his name today to make a point about Vini Jr to be honest, I don’t actually see my place in a lot of things happening today, so I don’t want to be part of one group or the other. I met 100 people who worked with José Mourinho. I’ve never heard someone say something bad about him. All his players love him. I understand the person he is, I understand he fights for his club,” Kompany told the media.
Kompany added that the Portuguese manager’s remark was flawed, “I know deep down he’s a good person. I don’t need to judge him on that. But I also know what I’ve heard. I understand what he’s done, but he made a mistake. Hopefully it won’t happen again in the future, and we can move on together.”
SB/JE
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