FMA shocked FA did not interview former Chelsea doctor
The FA's decision not to interview Dr Eva Carneiro as part of its investigation into alleged remarks made by Jose Mourinho has been called into question.
The Football Medical Association (FMA), the body which has been liaising with Dr. Carneiro after she was dropped from first team duties and then parted company with Chelsea, has expressed surprise that she was not spoken to by the governing body.
Chelsea manager Mourinho was cleared by the FA on Wednesday of making discriminatory comments towards Carneiro. The pair had a confrontation towards the end of the opening game of the season against Swansea, with Mourinho afterwards criticising Carneiro for going on to the pitch to treat Eden Hazard.
FMA chief executive Eamonn Salmon said expert opinion on the words used by Mourinho was divided.
Salmon said: "The FMA is aware that the FA will take no further action against Mr Jose Mourinho following a review of video evidence to ascertain whether Mr Mourinho made discriminatory remarks towards Dr Eva Carneiro in the game between Chelsea and Swansea City on the August 8 2015.
"As expert opinion would appear to be divided regarding the video evidence and content matter, the FMA is surprised that Dr Carneiro was not interviewed as part of the investigative process.
"The FMA does not condone sexism or abusive behaviour in professional football in any situation or towards any member of staff and would reiterate that in matters pertaining to a player's health and safety, respect for the integrity of the medical professional is paramount."
The FA would not comment on the FMA's remarks but said on Wednesday an independent academic expert in Portuguese linguistics had analysed footage of the incident, and announced it "is satisfied that the words used do not constitute discriminatory language under FA Rules".
It is understood that because the complaint was not made by Carneiro herself she was not called as a witness by the FA regulation team.
The campaign group Women in Football said it was "appalled" by the FA's decision to take no action against Mourinho, claiming its own language expert said abusive words used by the Chelsea manager were specifically directed towards a woman.
