With the latest developments in Eva Carneiro's issues with Jose Mourinho and Chelsea, the media headlines are being dominated by a former club physio, and those who may have missed the initial reporting of the incident may be left asking themselves "Who is Eva Carneiro?"
Who Is Eva Carneiro?
Eva Carneiro is a Doctor and sports medicine specialist from Gibraltar. She decided she wanted to become a doctor at 16 years of age and studied medicine at the University of Nottingham, where she went on to spend two years at the Australasian College of Sports Physicians in Melbourne, and even worked for West Ham United while completing her thesis. She was appointed to the UK Sports and Medicine Specialist training program with the Olympic Medical Institute preparing British athletes for the 2008 Olympic Games, and then joined Chelsea in 2009 where she worked until September 2015.
At the time of writing, Eva Carneiro currently has over 500,000 followers on her Facebook page.
Her Time At Chelsea
Eva Carneiro initially worked with the Chelsea reserve team, but in 2011 she was appointed to the first team by then manager André Villas-Boas. Things didn't appear to look good for Carneiro as Villas-Boas was sacked shortly into his reign as Chelsea boss, but soon it became apparent that she was part of the furniture at Stamford Bridge as she retained her position as first-team physio under new managers Roberto Di Matteo, Rafael Benitez, and the return of José Mourinho.
Controversy
During the 2014/15 season Chelsea filed a complaint to the FA about sexist abuse that Carneiro received from Arsenal, Manchester City, and Manchester United fans. Many figures in football condemned the behaviour of the fans but ultimately nothing came from the reported incidents.
At the start of the 2015/16 season Carneiro angered Chelsea manager José Mourinho (watch the incident here) when she followed the referee's orders to enter the field of play and treat and injured Chelsea player. Mourinho argued that Carneiro left his side vulnerable by treating Eden Hazard, and publicly criticised Carneiro (read more here) after the match. This criticism became worldwide news as Carneiro was essentially punished for doing her job, and was swiftly removed from her position with the Chelsea first-team.
The fallout from the Mourinho incident saw public opinion unanimously back Carneiro, and she is now believed to be consulting employment lawyers in order to file a constructive dismissal claim against Chelsea, after she announced she would leave the club on September 22nd, 2015.
Why Is She In The News Again?
The latest on Eva Carneiro is that she will not be returning to work with Chelsea, and after leaving the club she is preparing a legal case against Chelsea. Furthermore, the FA are also believed to be looking into a complaint that Jose Mourinho used abusive and or sexist language towards Carnerio.
One thing is for sure, and that is that Eva Carneiro is the most well known Premier League physio of all time, it is unclear what she will do in terms of her career going forward, but we know for sure it will not involve Chelsea Football club.
Hopefully we have answered the question 'Who is Eva Carneiro?', and hopefully she isn't make a public scapegoat in her next line of work.
