Jose dumps the Doc: Eva Carneiro axed from Chelsea bench after Mourinho blast

Jose Mourinho blasted Era Carniero for her actions

CHELSEA doctor Eva Carneiro has been relieved of her touchline duties after Jose Mourinho’s rant about his medical staff’s lack of understanding of the game during the 2-2 draw with Swansea.

 

Carneiro, 41, will retain her title of first-team doctor but will no longer sit on the bench during matches, attending training games or report to the team hotel ahead of fixtures.

 

Mourinho was angry that Carneiro rushed on to treat Eden Hazard when Chelsea were already down to 10 men late in Saturday’s game at Stamford Bridge. If the player had been allowed to shake off his injury on his own, it would have meant he was available to continue playing, rather than being taken to the touchline to await the referee’s signal to rejoin the game.

The Chelsea manager ranted on the touchline when the incident happened and later referred to it in post-match interviews.

“I wasn’t happy with my medical staff because, even if you are a medical doctor or secretary on the bench, you have to understand the game,” he said.

 

“If you go to the pitch to assist a player, then you must be sure that a player has a serious problem. I was sure that Eden didn’t have a serious problem.”

Chelsea’s physio Jon Fearn was actually first on to the pitch and he is also understood to have had his duties reassigned away from match-day tasks as part of the shake up. Both are expected to be absent from the dugout area for Sunday’s visit to Manchester City.

But because she is one of the few high-profile female doctors within the professional game, many saw the attack as levelled specifically at Carneiro.

“I would like to thank the general public for their overwhelming support,” she later wrote on social media. “Really very much appreciated.”

Carneiro was promoted to her current role in 2011 by Andre Villas-Boas and remained in place for the Rafa Benitez interim regime and the first two seasons of Mourinho’s return. It remains to be seen whether she accepts her now lower-profile role long term.

Chelsea’s team had been reduced to 10 men in the first place because goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was sent off for denying striker Bafetimbi Gomis a goalscoring chance.

They immediately appealed against the decision but an FA panel decided that the club failed to prove that referee Michael Oliver had made “an obvious error” by showing a red card.

It means new signing Asmir Begovic is likely to deputise at the Etihad while Courtois serves a one-match ban.