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Who would have thought that a simple row between a manager and his physios would lead to months of front page headlines and stories? Well in the case of the battle between Jose Mourinho and physio-turned-celebrity Dr. Eva Carneiro, there appears to be no end in sight.
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Last week ahead of the London derby with Arsenal, Chelsea FC announced that they had invited Head Physio Jon Fearn and Eva Carneiro back to the team where they could resume their duties on the bench during matches.
The pair had been removed from the bench for several weeks and were no longer allowed to attend first team training sessions. Fearn accepted and returned to the club but Carneiro refused and has since decided to part ways with Chelsea. This is where the story would usually end as an employee and employer part ways but things are just getting started.
The Football Association is still looking in to whether or not Jose Mourinho used abusive language towards Carneiro during the Swansea match. It is widely believed that he used a Spanish or Portuguese phrase that translates to “son/daughter of a b****” in response to the situation. On paper it sounds like this may be considered abusive but with cultural context in mind this is a commonly used phrase in Spanish-speaking countries to express anger at a situation. It is often used in exasperation, usually seen on the lips of Spanish or Latin American players when they scuff a shot on goal or miss a golden chance to score.
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With the cloud of a possible FA investigation looming, Carneiro stepped down from her role and according to the BBC is “considering her legal position”. She is clearly receiving advice about whether she has grounds to take legal action towards the club for creating a hostile work environment. A ruling in her favor by the FA would certainly help that case as that sort of language being used in a professional environment is unacceptable.
Jose Mourinho has been accused of being sexist in this row but the fact is that he never singled out Eva Carneiro for her actions during the match. He described the pair of physios as “impulsive and naive” and never made it a point to blame Carneiro or Fearn individually. Rather than keeping the matter internal, Carneiro turned to her Facebook followers and thanked them for their support after the incident.
This saga looks to be another distraction for a club that is just now beginning to find their form. With two wins in a row and several winnable matches to come the Blues do not have time to deal with such a distraction and it is a shame that Dr. Carneiro is choosing to go the legal route to settle a simple workplace dispute.
Jose Mourinho does seem to work better under pressure and with an air of controversy lingering around his squad so perhaps a siege mentality will be implemented once again by the manager. Regardless of what comes of this case, it is unfortunate that the club is being forced to address a matter that should have done and dealt with shortly after it occurred.
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