Chelsea
manager Jose Mourinho has been told he should stick to management rather
than interfere with medical decisions too after the row over Eden Hazard’s
treatment against Swansea.
Karim Khan, of the British Journal of Sports Medicine, is the latest
professional to defend Stamford Bridge doctor Eva Carneiro and physio Jon
Fearn for their actions at the weekend.
Mourinho labelled them "naive" for coming on to tend to Hazard after he fell
to the ground in the closing stages of the 2-2 draw with Garry Monk’s side
on Saturday.
The Portuguese felt his player was simply tired and was ultimately right but
Khan believes Carneiro and Fearn had a duty of care to the forward when they
were called on by referee Michael Oliver.
He told Sky Sports News HQ: “From the media reports, it looks like the
doctor has been completely undermined by the manager. The doctor was taking
care of an athlete, which was her priority.
“As the medical world and physio world have got behind her, you can see that
this seems completely inappropriate.
“The doctor has a duty of care to the athlete to do what is best for the
athlete. That’s a relationship that is paramount and is not bounded by club
and game pressures.
“Sports doctors working at this level are very experienced at understanding
football and understanding coaches.
“The doctor shouldn’t be willy-nilly doing things inappropriately but if the
doctor is called on by a referee then she had that obligation to take care
of the player.
“The doctor has to have the ability to care for the athlete. FIFA brought in
a rule where if a player collapsed, the doctor is allowed to run out to that
player.
“Doctors are hired to have this judgement and this (issue) does set a bad
precedent. It’s an issue about the doctor’s role in the team and the
manager’s role.
“We have to have these boundaries and medical decisions have to stay in the
hands of the doctors, physios and health professionals who are empowered and
trained to do this.
“The primary message is managers need to stick to managing, not medicine.
“There’s a good history of fantastic managers who had great relations with
team physios and doctors and have done that successfully.”
Chelsea’s former doctor, Ralph Rogers, has also backed Carneiro’s action but
criticised her for taking to Facebook rather than keeping her counsel after
the incident.
Rogers – a sports injury specialist at Harley Street in London who was at
Stamford Bridge from 2010 to 2011 – is adamant Carneiro reacted correctly.
But he feels she would have been better saying nothing than thanking people
on social media for their backing in the aftermath of the Mourinho row.
Rogers said: “It was her clinical judgement to get on to the pitch. She felt
the player was injured sufficiently enough to go and protect this player.
“That’s our duty of care as physicians. She did the right thing as far as
I’m concerned. She felt the kid was injured? She’s got to get on the pitch.
“Surely the social media didn’t help the situation. We know as physicians we
shouldn’t be putting these kinds of messages on.
“We’re not the star of the show. It’s about the players, we’re just support
staff and I’m sure that inflamed the situation.”
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