Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho caught using homophobic slur

Posted Thursday, February 23, 2012 by Canada

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho was allegedly caught using a homophobic slur on camera prior to his side’s round of 16 match with CSKA Moscow in the Champions League.

In a video posted on the Daily Mirror, Mourinho is caught using a derogatory slur for homosexuals in a rant against the referees.

Mourinho is seen in the video walking through Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow before a game, trudging a snow-covered pitch as a cameraman follows him.

Mourinho is perfectly aware of the camera’s presence when he allegedly says, “Y esos maricones… No dicen con que balón se juega.”

The translation for that phrase is, “And those f—–s… do not say that you play ball?”

There is as yet no response from Mourinho or Real Madrid to the video, but it’s surprising that the manager would allow himself to be caught like that, especially in the wake of two recent incidents of alleged racism.

There was, of course, the incident in which Chelsea captain John Terry was revoked of the England national team’s captaincy after he apparently called Queen’s Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand a “black c–t.”

Then, of course, there was the incident in which Liverpool’s Luis Suarez allegedly directed a racial slur against Manchester United’s Patrice Evra. Suarez later refused to shake Evra’s hand in the pre-match handshake.

I don’t know where this is going to go, but I can’t imagine that UEFA will want to deal with him lightly. Soccer authorities have had to work overtime recently to prove that the sport doesn’t tolerate prejudice, and it will have to deal swiftly and heavy-handedly with Mourinho if it wants to maintain any semblance of integrity.

UPDATE: A Spanish-speaking friend has watched the video and says the translation is erroneous as reported by the Daily Mirror. The translation, according to him, is not a question, and is actually, “And those queers [...] don’t say which ball is played with.”

There is as yet no response from Mourinho or from Real Madrid, so we await what they say.