The Football Association has come under attack from one of its board members for not interviewing Dr Eva Carneiro when it investigated allegations she had been the subject of discriminatory comments by the Chelsea manager, José Mourinho.
Heather Rabbatts, an independent board member and the head of the FA’s inclusion advisory board, said she had “major concerns” over the governing body’s disciplinary process in the case. Mourinho, who has always protested his innocence, was cleared of wrongdoing on Wednesday after the FA, having appointed an academic expert in Portuguese linguistics, declared itself satisfied the language used by the manager on the touchline at the end of the game against Swansea on 8 August was not discriminatory under its rules.
Mourinho had been infuriated that Dr Carneiro and the physio Jon Fearn had entered the field of play, having been waved on by the referee, to treat Eden Hazard in stoppage time as his 10 men sought to close out a 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, with the nature of a complaint submitted to the FA understood to have centred on whether he used the phrase “Filha da Puta”, with “Filha” being the feminine and singular in the Portuguese, as opposed to the masculine “Filho”.
It is understood that, because the complaint was not made by Carneiro herself, she was not called as a witness by the FA regulation team but that the governing body contacted her lawyers and indicated that, if she wished to submit any evidence, it would be receptive to her observations. That offer was apparently not taken up.
“The FA’s reaction to the treatment of Dr Eva Carneiro has been seriously disappointing,” said Rabbatts. “I have major concerns over the way in which the disciplinary process has been conducted and the lack of an organisational response to the wider issues raised by this case.
“We had an announcement late on Wednesday relating to a high-profile incident which occurred on 8 August, and yet it would appear that during that time no witnesses were requested to speak to the FA, including Dr Carneiro, and in the course of the investigation some media were reporting it was likely that no charge was to be brought. This is on top of a previous case when clear evidence of sexist and abusive chanting from groups of supporters against Dr Carneiro was apparently not seen as sufficient for a charge to be raised.”
Mourinho had criticised the medical staff in his media conference after the Swansea game, with the pair subsequently told they could no longer attend training sessions, matches or enter the team hotel. That effectively constituted a demotion. Whereas Fearn remains an employee at Chelsea, Carneiro, who had taken to social media to thank people for their support, left the club’s staff last week. She is still consulting her lawyers over the manner of her departure.
“A highly respected medic, a woman at the top of her profession in football, has been mistreated, undermined, verbally abused and yet no one apart from Dr Carneiro has faced significant consequences,” added Rabbatts. “In addition, the demotion of Dr Carneiro and her subsequent departure from Chelsea FC raises important issues which the club, the FA, the Premier League, the PFA and the LMA need to address.
“It is my view that the lack of support given to her as a medic and as a woman has resulted in her removal from the game. This is not only a personal tragedy but is a setback for player welfare and sends a terrible message to other medics and all those girls and women who aspire to play a role at the top level of professional football. I have shared these views with senior colleagues at the FA and hope that by speaking out all parties involved will be encouraged to take steps to support Dr Carneiro and ensure that real and serious lessons are learned for the future.”
In a later interview on Sky Sports News Rabbatts said: “Eva Carneiro was doing her job to the best of her abilities. She did nothing wrong and the person who has paid a price for doing nothing wrong is Eva Carneiro. That simply does offend human justice in my view.”
The Football Medical Association, the body which has been liaising with Carneiro, has also called into question the decision not to interview the doctor. “As expert opinion would appear to be divided regarding the video evidence and content matter, the FMA is surprised that Dr Carneiro was not interviewed as part of the investigative process,” said its chief executive, Eamonn Salmon.
