DOCTOR EVA...1 MOURINHO .... 0
JOSE MOURINHO was caught up in the chaos after Chelsea were forced into a humiliating climbdown at Eva Carneiro’s employment tribunal yesterday. The former Chelsea doctor settled her constructive dismissal claim as the club apologised ‘unreservedly’ for the distress caused. Their statement added: ‘Dr Carneiro is a highly competent and professional sports doctor ... we wish her every success in her future career. Jose Mourinho also thanks her for the excellent and dedicated support.’ Dr Carneiro, who claims Mourinho branded her a ‘daughter of a whore’ when she ran on to treat Eden Hazard, said: ‘It has been an extremely difficult and distressing time.’
JOSE Mourinho suffered one of his most embarrassing defeats yesterday – at the hands of the woman team doctor he clashed with.
The former Chelsea manager acted to silence ‘scandalous’ sexism allegations minutes before Dr Eva Carneiro was due to go public with them.
Mourinho and the West London club agreed a pay-off estimated to be worth £5million to Dr Carneiro, who claims he branded her a ‘daughter of a whore’ and a woman who did not understand football after she ran on to the pitch to treat an injured player.
Last night Chelsea issued a grovelling apology to the 42-year-old – who had turned down the club’s initial £1.2million offer – but Mourinho pointedly did not say sorry.
The huge deal was struck as Dr Carneiro prepared to take the witness stand to make further explosive claims. She had threatened to expose embarrassing texts and emails about her time working for the ‘Special One’, now manager at Manchester United.
Chelsea’s lawyers had called her allegations ‘scandalous, irrelevant and untrue’. But as the case was due to resume at London South Employment Tribunal in Croydon yesterday afternoon, the settlement was hammered out in a corridor.
Mourinho, who had been due to give evidence next week, made a humbling visit to the hearing to be present as the deal was forged. During two hours of brinkmanship, he did not face Dr Carneiro, as she and the Chelsea delegation sat in separate rooms, with messages being shuttled between
‘Sexually explicit comments’
their legal teams. There followed a twominute tribunal hearing during which it was announced the case had been settled, with the terms to remain confidential.
Mourinho, sacked by Chelsea in December, sat stony-faced between chairman Bruce Buck and director Marina Granovskaia, making no eye contact with Dr Carneiro.
A statement from Chelsea afterwards said the club ‘regretted the circumstances’ that led to Dr Carneiro leaving, adding it ‘apologises unreservedly to her and her family for the distress caused’.
The statement contained no apology from Mourinho, who merely thanked Dr Carneiro for the ‘excellent and dedicated support’ she had provided, and wished her a ‘successful career’. When asked by the Mail outside the tribunal, ‘Why no apology from you – was it a case of “No way Jose”?’, Mourinho refused to comment and grinned as he was rushed away to a waiting car.
Gibraltar-born Dr Carneiro, who has a Spanish father and an English mother, had claimed Mourinho called her a ‘daughter of a whore’ in Portuguese when she rushed and another medic on to the Stamford Bridge pitch to treat star player Eden Hazard as he lay injured towards the end of the 2-2 draw against Swansea, the opening match of the season last August.
Mourinho maintained he had actually shouted ‘son of a bitch’, which he insisted was not sexist – adding that swearing was common in football.
But he suggested in a subsequent TV interview that Dr Carneiro had acted too hastily and did not ‘understand’ the game of football – an insult her QC Mary O’Rourke said was ‘a common allegation put to women in the football world’.
Miss O’Rourke said the doctor had to deal with ‘sexually explicit’ comments made by Chelsea colleagues, and that Mourinho threatened to banish her to the women’s team or the training academy after the incident.
Dr Carneiro was not present for Chelsea’s next game and left the club the following month.
She began legal action against Chelsea for constructive dismissal, unfair dismissal under health and safety laws, sex discrimination and harassment, and sued Mourinho for alleged victimisation and discrimination. As the case was outlined on Monday, Mourinho and Chelsea complained Dr Carneiro had added fresh claims just before the hearing started.
Their QC Daniel Stilitz said: ‘She has made a series of scandalous, irrelevant and untrue allegations for the very first time.’ He said it was in ‘no one’s interests’ for these claims to be aired publicly.
The Premier League club accused Dr Carneiro of betraying Chelsea and ignoring Mourinho’s instructions by treating Hazard. It claimed she was so hungry for fame that she would sit behind him during matches so she would be seen on TV. It said she had demanded a 40 per cent pay rise and had turned down more than four times her £286,000 salary and the offer of her job back to settle her claim, instead seeking compensation for ‘whole career’ earnings, which would amount to about £5million as she has 18 years until retirement.
But in yesterday’s statement after the settlement, Chelsea said: ‘We wish to place on record that in running on to the pitch, Dr Carneiro was following both the rules of the game and fulfilling her responsibility to the players as a doctor, putting their safety first.’
Dr Carneiro, who was accompanied to the tribunal by her polar explorer husband Jason De Carteret, said in statement: ‘I am relieved that today we have been able to conclude this tribunal case.
‘It has been an extremely difficult and distressing time for me and my family and I now look forward to moving forward with my life.
‘My priority has always been the health and safety of the players and fulfilling my duty of care as a doctor.
‘In running on to the pitch to treat a player, who requested medical attention, I was following the rules of the game and fulfilling my medical responsibilities.’