José faces legal drama over Dr Eva
CHELSEA and Dr Eva Carneiro have parted company, with the club braced for what could prove an expensive legal battle.
The news has invited criticism from within the FA board room, with board member Heather Rabbatts expressing her “sadness and anger” at Dr Carneiro’s departure.
The now former Chelsea first-team doctor was ordered to return to work last Friday for what would have been her first appearance at the club’s Cobham training ground since a bust-up with manager José Mourinho during the Premier League match against Swansea City on August 8.
But Carneiro did not show, and according to club insiders yesterday she has still not been seen there. It is now clear that she has departed the club.
Defending the doctor’s actions against Swansea, Rabbatts said: “Any other response would have been a dereliction of her duty and a breach of General Medical Council guidelines.
“In acting properly she was then subject to verbal abuse and public criticism and in effect demoted by her removal from the bench.
“Eva was one of the few very senior women in the game, a highly respected doctor who has acted with professional integrity in difficult circumstances and whose skills have been highly praised by her colleagues, the club and governing bodies.”
Chelsea may argue that her failure to turn up for work could weaken her case for constructive dismissal, even though arriving at Cobham could have amounted to accepting new terms of employment after she was publicly stripped of first-team duties.
Chelsea are aware that the Gibraltar-born medic is consulting leading employment lawyers.
Carneiro was banned from the bench and team hotel after Mourinho publicly accused her of making a mistake when she and team physiotherapist Jon Fearn rushed on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard, having twice been waved on by referee Michael Oliver.
Mourinho’s explosive reaction at the time is the subject of an FA inquiry after a member of the public made a complaint, claiming that the Portuguese manager had shouted “filha da puta”; something that means “daughter of a whore” and, if proven, could lead to Mourinho being banned for five matches.
FA officials said the video evidence submitted as part of the complaint was still being reviewed.
Mourinho’s accusation that his medical staff did not under- stand the game was met with widespread disapproval by Carneiro’s peers.
Fifa’s chief medical officer was among those to remind Mourinho that the welfare of players is the responsibility of medical staff and not the manager. Indeed, a joint statement from the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine and the 500-strong Faculty of Sport and Exercise Medicine has been sent to the League Managers’ Association.
The FA’s position remains unclear. While it seems unlikely, Mourinho could yet be charged under the FA rule E3, which states that players and coaches can be punished for using “offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures”.
With an aggravated breach, in this case possibly with reference to gender, a five-match ban is the minimum sanction. – Daily Mail