Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho could again face questions over his treatment of former club doctor Eva Carneiro after Football Association chairman Greg Dyke criticised the Portuguese's handling of the incident.
Mourinho was earlier this week cleared of using discriminatory language towards Carneiro in Chelsea's opening Premier League game of the season against Swansea.
But Dyke said - in a letter to FA council members, a copy of which has been obtained by Press Association Sport - that Mourinho committed "a failure of his personal judgement and public behaviour".
Mourinho is due to conduct his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon ahead of the clash with Southampton and may choose to respond to Dyke's assertions.
The letter was sent following Wednesday's FA board meeting, since when independent board member Heather Rabbatts launched a stinging attack on the FA for its "seriously disappointing" handling of the Carneiro case.
Dyke's letter makes clear his misgivings over Mourinho's behaviour. Carneiro was dropped from first-team duties after an incident on the opening day of the season when she was criticised by Mourinho for going on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard. She has since parted company with Chelsea.
Dyke says in the letter: "There have been some well-documented issues of late around equality and inclusion in the game, an issue where it is vital we continue to show clear leadership.
"I felt the handling of the case of the Chelsea doctor, Eva Carneiro, was a good example of this. We supported Heather Rabbatts' strong statement on the matter earlier in the month.
"Personally I don't think Mr Mourinho comes well out of the whole saga - he clearly made a mistake in the heat of a game, and should have said so and apologised.
"Instead he has said very little and Miss Carneiro has lost her job.
"Our regulatory team have investigated this and whilst Mr Mourinho has breached no rules it was clearly a failure of his personal judgement and public behaviour. This should be seen as such by the game."
Rabbatts, head of the FA's inclusion advisory board, said she had "major concerns" regarding the FA's disciplinary process which saw Mourinho cleared.
It has emerged that the FA did not ask to interview Carneiro, although it is understood it asked her lawyers if they wished to provide any evidence.
Rabbatts told Press Association Sport: "The FA's reaction to the treatment of Dr Eva Carneiro has been seriously disappointing. 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 August 8 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."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel