Kompany slams Mourinho over Vinicius Junior racism row

Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany has criticised Jose Mourinho, calling his handling of the alleged racist incident involving Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior a “huge mistake.”

The Brazil forward scored the only goal in Real Madrid’s 1-0 Champions League win against Benfica on Tuesday.

Read Also: Four fans jailed for hate comments against Vinicius Jr

His celebration was booked, and the match was briefly halted after Vinicius reported alleged racist abuse from Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni, which Prestianni denies. UEFA has launched an investigation into the claims.

Mourinho’s Controversial Comments

Following the match, Mourinho, sent off late for arguing with the referee, described Vinicius’ celebration as “disrespectful” and cited Benfica legend Eusebio as evidence that the club is not racist.

Kompany’s Emotional Response

Kompany addressed Mourinho’s comments at length during a pre-match news conference ahead of Bayern’s game against Eintracht Frankfurt.

“After the game, you have a leader of an organisation, Jose Mourinho, who basically attacks the character of Vinicius Jr by bringing in the type of celebration to discredit what Vinicius is doing in this moment,” Kompany said.

“For me, in terms of leadership, it’s a huge mistake, and it’s something that we should not accept.”

Kompany also condemned Mourinho’s reference to Eusebio, highlighting the struggles Black players faced in the 1960s.

“Do you know what Black players had to go through in the 1960s? Was he (Mourinho) there to travel with Eusebio to every away game? Probably the only option they had was to stay quiet, to be above it, and to be ten times better to earn a little recognition. That was Eusebio’s life.”

Mourinho Responds to Match, Not Kompany

Mourinho has yet to respond directly to Kompany’s criticism, speaking only to Benfica club media about the match.

“The game was truly demanding in every aspect… from the 51st minute until now, and this won’t end our conversation; it hasn’t been easy to manage emotionally everything that has happened and continues to happen.”

Debate on Leadership and Racism Reignited

Kompany’s comments have reignited debate over leadership, respect, and the handling of racism allegations in European football.