Ex-Chelsea Physio Eva Carneiro Now Lives Very Different Life 11 Years on From Jose Mourinho Clash

· GiveMeSport

Jose Mourinho banned Eva Carneiro from attending matches and training sessions after an on-pitch clash, but nowadays, she is thriving.

You've probably lost count of the number of people Jose Mourinho has fallen out with during his managerial career by now. It doesn’t matter if you’re a star player or an opponent’s ballboy, you’re not safe from the Portuguese ringmaster's wrath when things aren’t going his way.

And in recent years, things haven’t gone his way far more often than was usual during his pomp. Some might say he hasn’t been the same since an infamous clash with a member of staff in 2015.

Of course, we’re talking about Eva Carneiro. Chelsea’s physio left football after being slammed by Mourinho for attending Eden Hazard’s injury during a 2-2 draw against Swansea on the opening day of the 2015/16 Premier League campaign.

Hazard went down injured in injury time and Carneiro along with then-chief physio Jon Fearn, ran onto the pitch to tend to him. Of course, it meant that Hazard would have to leave the pitch and wait to be called back on by the referee.

It left Mourinho furious, which he made crystal clear after the match, telling reporters:

> "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. You had to know you have one player less. > > "So if you go to the pitch to assist a player you must be sure the player has a serious problem. > > "I was sure Eden [Hazard] didn't have a serious problem. He had a knock and was very, very tired. My medical department [were] naive. They left me at a counter-attack with two players less."

The relationship between Mourinho and his physio couldn’t be repaired and, six weeks later, she left the club. Mourinho prevented Carneiro from sitting on the bench after the incident and was no longer allowed to attend matches or training sessions. Carneiro took the Portuguese coach to court, filing for constructive dismissal before rejecting a £1.2million settlement deal offered by Chelsea. It was soon settled out of court for a figure alleged to be around £5 million .

Mourinho made headlines in early 2026, for his questionable comments when Vinicius Junior claimed he was racially abused by Gianluca Prestianni during Benfica's 1-0 loss to Real Madrid. The manager told the Brazilian that he should not have provoked the away team . His comments sparked an angry reaction in some circles.

Speaking negatively of Mourinho's true character , respected journalist Jacqui Oatley said: "Friendly reminder to anyone not familiar with some of Jose Mourinho’s off-pitch behaviour, that he effectively ended the football club career of an excellent, highly respected doctor, Eva Carneiro, for absolutely no valid reason."

With Carneiro brought up over a decade later, it's interesting to learn that 52-year-old has continued to thrive in ventures outside of football, and even made a surprise return within the sport.

In the years since her Chelsea exit, Carneiro spent time working with a private practice, the Sports Medical Group, located in Harley Street, London. She also acted as a private consultant and worked with the Aspetar Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Hospital in Qatar during preparation for the 2022 World Cup.

Despite landing back on her feet, the 52-year-old did admit that it hadn't been an easy journey. Her run-in with Mourinho had a major impact on her career, as she told talkSPORT 2 .

“It’s impossible to go through something that I went through for the best part of a year of my life and not be changed by it," Carneiro admitted. "But it hasn’t put me off at all.

> "It’s fair to say I needed time off, I needed to enjoy my job again and be a doctor again without the complications of being in the limelight. I was in every paper in every country for a really long time and I wasn’t at all comfortable with that. > > "Certain individuals in football wanted to treat me like I did something wrong when it was clear I was only doing my job. In football, whether it’s racism, child abuse, athlete safeguarding and respect for the medical treatment - a change of culture is needed to change the things which are ugly about it."

The Gibraltarian-born medical professional explained how the impact saw her love of football wane to the extent that she no longer wanted to be involved in the sport at the time, going as far as to not even watch that year's Champions League final on television. However, in the time that has passed, Carneiro has made a return to the beautiful game, but in a completely different capacity than she was in previously.

Carneiro's determination to see a change in culture within football led to her investing in the non-league football club, Lewes FC back in 2021. Having seen a campaign fronted by the team called #CallHimOut, aimed at tackling sexism and misogyny in society, she wanted to get involved. The initiative was set up to highlight violence against women and the men's team also revealed they would call out any form of misogynistic language that they heard during games.

Carneiro was interested in joining the cause and helping the team after seeing their efforts to bring positive change to football in this manner. The campaign didn't just strike a chord with her either. Tennis superstar Andy Murray and his mother, Judy, also invested in the club , with Judy saying that she "loved the ethos behind this incredible club and all the people I met who work or volunteer there." The family already had links to Carnerio, who was credited for saving Andy's career back in 2022.

The club has been striving to make positive changes for women in football for some time now, announcing in 2017 that they had become the first team to have equal playing budgets for both their men's and women's teams. The investment of Carneiro and the Murray's has led to positive changes within the club, with the added finances leading to improvements being made to facilities.

They are still working towards creating a better environment for women in football off of it and the women's team has been thriving in recent years. The ladies have risen to the Women's National League South, meaning that they are just two promotions away from competing in the Women's Super League alongside the likes of Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City, having finished 6th of 12 in 2024/25.

Eleven years after the incident and Mourinho, who returned to Real Madrid in the summer of 2026, still sees nothing wrong with his behaviour. Speaking on the three-part Netflix docu-series, MOURINHO, the 63-year-old was quoted saying by the Daily Mail :

> "For me, a lady doctor is the same as a man’s doctor. 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."

Mourinho added: "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."

John Terry, Chelsea's captain at the time, said on the docu-series: "Medically, he would say unless it’s really, really bad, then they’re [the team doctors] not coming on. That was the understanding for us as players; the medical staff, everyone bought into that.

> "It was a big moment obviously and he took a lot of backlash for that. There was a lot of heat on the football club."

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