The Football Association has come under renewed criticism after Chelsea’s former club doctor, Eva Carneiro, revealed that ‘at no stage’ was she asked to give evidence to the FA during their investigation into allegedly derogatory remarks made by Jose Mourinho.
Mourinho was cleared of any wrong doing by the FA after their investigation into his reported use of the phrase ‘filho da puto’, which is Portuguese for ‘son of a bitch’. Their linguistic experts decided that the phrase was not specifically aimed at Carneiro and was uttered in a general sense, despite the fact that Women In Football’s own language experts felt it was very deliberately aimed at Carneiro herself.
The incident occurred during the defending Premier League champion’s opening game of the season against Swansea City at Stamford Bridge. Carneiro and Jon Fearn, Chelsea’s physio, ran on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard after being called on to do so by Michael Oliver, the match referee, several times. Because he was given treatment he had to leave the field of play, temporarily leaving Chelsea with nine men as their goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois, had already been sent off for a foul on the Swans striker Bafetimbi Gomis, hence Mourinho’s anger and frustration with his medical team.
The head of the FA , Greg Dyke, has criticised Mourinho and suggested he should apologise. Asked about the incident itself and Dyke’s suggestion, the Portuguese manager said, “For the last two months I did not open my mouth and I will keep like this. One day I will speak, and I will choose that day… I am quiet about it for a long time. I read, and listen, and watch, and I am quiet”.
Carneiro, speaking about the matter publicly for the first time, said, “Incidents such as these…make it so difficult for women in the game… I wonder whether this might be the only formal investigation in this country where the evidence of the individuals involved in the incident was not considered relevant”.
The former club doctor has chosen not to return to work at Chelsea after the incident occurred and Mourinho decided to downgrade her role at the club. She said that the whole experience has left her disillusioned with the game and mentioned an occasion last season when the FA failed to ask her for a statement after she was subjected to obscene chants. She said, “Last season I had a similar experience at a game at West Ham, where I was subject to verbal abuse. Following complaints by the public, the FA produced a communication saying there had been no sexist chanting during this game. At no time was I approached for a statement despite the fact that vile, unacceptable, sexually explicit abuse was clearly heard”.