Former Bafana Bafana star Benni McCarthy and Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany have criticised Jose Mourinho following his remarks about Vinicius Junior.
Mourinho took aim at the Real Madrid forward’s celebration during their UEFA Champions League clash against Benfica on Tuesday, 17 February.
The Kenya national team coach, McCarthy, addressed Mourinho’s post-match comments, suggesting that Vini Junior should be celebrated rather than targeted.
“The situation could have been handled better, or he could have chosen his words better,” McCarthy said.
“Emotions may have got the better of him, but I know the statement he made was very wrong.
“It was a wrong statement at the time from somebody who has previously advocated for African players and the African continent. But there, you contradict yourself in what he said because it was not pleasant to watch,” he added.
“I purely take it down as an emotion of the game and the situation where he felt like he had to back his team, and then later realised, he made a wrong call. We are all human; we all make mistakes.”
Kompany also strongly condemned Mourinho’s remarks, describing them as unacceptable.
“You have the leader of an organisation, Jose Mourinho, who attacks the character of Vinicius Junior by bringing in the type of celebration to discredit what he is doing at this moment,” Kompany said.
“For me, in terms of leadership, that is a huge mistake and something we should not accept. I am very clear on that.”
Kompany further criticised Mourinho for referencing Benfica legend Eusebio Da Silva Ferreira to defend the club against accusations of racism.
“On top of it, he mentioned Eusebio to suggest that Benfica cannot be racist because the best player in the club’s history is Eusebio”, Kompany continued.
“But do you know what black players had to go through in the 1960s? Was he there, travelling with Eusebio to every away game across Europe?”
Kompany reflected on the experiences of black players from that era, drawing parallels with his own family history.
“My dad is a black person who made his way in the 1960s. Probably at that time, the only option they had was to stay quiet, and to say nothing to be above it, and to be ten times better, just get a little bit of credit. That was probably Eusebio’s life.”
He added that using Eusebio’s name to make a point about Vini Júnior today misses the broader issue.
“There are many black players in different European leagues who don’t have a voice. In countries like Hungary, Bulgaria, and Serbia, if something happens to them, they often have little or no support.
“At least Vinicius is in a position where a lot of people made it possible for him to take this moment and to protest in this moment.”
Kompany admitted that discussing racism in modern football is deeply personal and complex.
“It is difficult for me to speak about this honestly,”
“In many ways, I don’t feel like I fit into what I see happening in the world today. Personally, I do not see my place in a lot of things that are happening in today’s world.
“So, I don’t want to be a part of one group but if I see the situation with the player, my dream is that at the end of the situation if it is true that the player from Benfica said something as bad as what he said, I would love a situation where there is still a room where somebody can apologise and say I'm sorry I made a mistake,” he concluded.