The former Chelsea team doctor Eva Carneiro has broken her silence to criticise the English FA over its investigation into remarks allegedly made by the side's manager, Jose Mourinho, on the touchline late in a match against Swansea City in August.
Carneiro, who formally left the Premier League club last week, insisted the governing body had made no effort to contact her for a statement over the incident, and revealed they had also failed to seek her out after she was the subject of sexist abuse during a fixture at West Ham United last season.
She suggested those incidents, coupled with the lack of support she had received from the game’s authorities, were indicative of how hard life was for women involved in football.
“I was surprised to learn that the FA was allegedly investigating the incident of 8 August via the press,” she said.
“I was at no stage requested by the FA to make a statement. 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. Choosing to ignore some of the evidence will surely influence the outcome of the findings”.
She continued: “Last season I had a similar experience at a game at West Ham FC, where I was subject to verbal abuse. Following complaints by the public, the FA produced a communication to the press 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. It is incidents such as these and the lack of support from the football authorities that make it so difficult for women in the game”.
During the incident in August, Mourinho reacted furiously after 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.
A complaint subsequently submitted by a third party to the FA centred upon whether he used the phrase filha da puta, with filha being the feminine and singular in the Portuguese, as opposed to the masculine filho.
After bringing in an expert in Portuguese linguistics, the FA said it was satisfied on Wednesday that the language used by the manager was not discriminatory under its rules.
A witness
The governing body has suggested Carneiro was not called as a witness as she had not submitted the complaint herself but, in the aftermath of the game against Swansea, the FA said their regulatory team did contact her lawyers to ask if she wished to provide any evidence.
An FA spokesman said: “We have never received any information or complaint from Dr Carneiro. Including in written correspondence with her lawyers, it has been made explicitly clear that if Dr Carneiro had evidence to provide or wished to make a complaint she was more than welcome to do so. That route remains open.”
Both Carneiro and Fern were told immediately after the Swansea match that they could no longer attend training sessions, games or enter the team hotel. That decision effectively constituted a demotion.
Mourinho, who has consistently denied using discriminatory language against Carneiro, declined to comment on the issue yesterday. Guardian Service
