Former Chelsea team doctor Dr Eva Carneiro made a tongue-in-cheek jibe at Jose Mourinho on social media after he avoided apologising to her over their infamous touchline row in a new documentary.
Mourinho addressed the incident for the first time in over a decade in his new three-part Netflix docu-series titled MOURINHO, which is released on Tuesday. The former Chelsea boss said "a lady doctor is the same as a man's doctor" when discussing the row, which led to him agreeing a settlement with Carneiro after she took the club to a tribunal in 2016 over claims she was discriminated against by the manager.
On the same day Mourinho's comments made headlines, Carneiro posted on X to announce an new chapter in her career, due to be revealed this autumn. "Bom Dia," her post began. "I have an announcement to make. A truly Special One." She added a winky face emoji before writing: "A project close to my heart which I have been working on for years and is almost ready for launch. Not an old set piece! Watch this space. This autumn!!!!"
The Swansea City touchline row
During a Premier League match against Swansea City at the start of the 2015-16 season, Mourinho reacted angrily when Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn went onto the pitch to treat Eden Hazard, who had appeared injured. Carneiro said Mourinho discriminated against her on the basis of sex during his tirade and called her the "daughter of a wh***" in Portuguese.
In his first public reaction at the time, Mourinho called Carneiro "impulsive and naive." She was dropped from first-team duties and left Chelsea a month later. Chelsea and Mourinho eventually settled after Carneiro took them to a tribunal, claiming discrimination by the manager and constructive dismissal by the club.
Eleven years on, Mourinho said in the documentary he treated Carneiro the same way he would treat any doctor he felt had made a mistake. "For me, a lady doctor is the same as a man's doctor," Mourinho said. "So, as always, I use my vocabulary when I'm not happy. There are words in moments where the tension is very, very high. Normally, people with football culture, with football DNA, with football background, they go over it in one second. In that case, it was different."
Hazard's account and the documentary footage
Hazard, who played under Mourinho for two years, said in the documentary that "it was nothing special" but "with Jose everything is bigger." Footage in the series shows Mourinho, now 63 and manager of Real Madrid, shouting expletives at Carneiro and Fearn as they treated Hazard, including "f*** off, man" and "f*** you, man."
Mourinho also said in the documentary: "I'm not a doctor, but my eyes know when a player is injured, and they know when a player is not injured. I knew that he was not injured, but the doctors went to the pitch, and in that moment we were left with nine players."
The tribunal and settlement
Hazard was forced off the pitch for a brief period, as required when a player receives treatment, leaving Chelsea with nine men after Thibaut Courtois had already been sent off. Chelsea gave Carneiro an unreserved apology, but Mourinho refused to apologise and grinned as he left the tribunal.
A deal was reached in a back corridor of the court, and Chelsea issued a statement saying it "regretted the circumstances" that led to Carneiro leaving the club, apologising "unreservedly to her and her family for the distress caused." The terms of the settlement remain secret, but the tribunal revealed Chelsea had previously offered £1.2million to silence Carneiro. Mourinho did not apologise after the incident, at the tribunal, or in the documentary.
