Eva Carneiro Responds to Mourinho and Terry's Comments
Eva Carneiro has reignited her feud with José Mourinho and John Terry after the pair revisited the incident that ended her Chelsea career 11 years ago.
The former Chelsea team doctor responded sharply on social media after the controversy was replayed in the new Netflix documentary “Mourinho,” where the ex-Blues manager again insisted Carneiro and then-head physio Jon Fearn were wrong to enter the pitch to treat Eden Hazard during a 2-2 draw with Swansea City in August 2015.
“11 years on and here we are reliving the worst. Hope they made some money,” Carneiro wrote on X, making clear she has not softened her view of how the saga unfolded.
Carneiro hits back at Terry and Mourinho
In the documentary, Mourinho repeats his long‑held stance that Hazard was not seriously injured and that the medical team’s decision to run on, after being called by referee Michael Oliver, left Chelsea exposed with nine men in stoppage time.
“I’m not a doctor but my eyes know when a player is injured and when a player is not injured,” Mourinho says. “I knew Eden was not injured but the doctors went on to the pitch and we were left with nine players.
“For me, a lady doctor is the same as a man doctor. So, as always, I used 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 or with a football background get over it in one second. In that case, it was different.”
Terry, Chelsea captain at the time, backs Mourinho’s version in the film, claiming there was a clear understanding between players and medical staff about when to enter the field.
“Medically, José would say unless it’s really, really bad, then they’re not coming on,” Terry says. “That was the understanding of 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.”
Carneiro, who was removed from first-team duties in the aftermath and left the club a month later, directly challenged Terry’s comments and underlined her professional obligations.
“We are bound by a medico-legal code of conduct,” she wrote. “Genuinely it would be healthy for John Terry to learn the rules of the game. It’s been long enough mate.”
She also reposted a statement from the British Association of Sport and Exercise Medicine, which stresses that medical staff have an “absolute duty of care” to attend and assess a player when requested by the referee.
‘My hands are bound as a medical professional’
Carneiro then laid out her account of those crucial seconds at Stamford Bridge.
“So IT IS really simple. Referee Michael Oliver called us on TWICE, player Eden Hazard requested medical assistance we then made eye contact from side line and he confirmed he needed medical assistance, TWICE.
“At that point my hands are bound as a medical professional.”
The flashpoint came late in Chelsea’s opening Premier League match of the 2015-16 season. Thibaut Courtois had already been sent off when Hazard went down and signalled towards the bench. Once Carneiro and Fearn entered the pitch, Hazard was obliged under the laws of the game to leave the field, leaving Chelsea temporarily down to nine players.
Mourinho’s anger was immediate and public. He later labelled Carneiro and Fearn “impulsive and naive” and accused them of not “understanding the game,” comments that detonated a storm over the treatment of medical staff and the boundaries of managerial authority.
Legal fallout and unfinished business
The fallout was swift. Carneiro and Fearn were removed from first-team duties in the days after the Swansea match. Carneiro then exited the club the following month and brought legal action against Chelsea for constructive dismissal, as well as a separate claim against Mourinho.
The case reached an employment tribunal before Chelsea and Carneiro agreed a settlement in June 2016. The club issued an apology to their former doctor. Mourinho never did so publicly.
The Football Association cleared Mourinho in September 2015 of making discriminatory comments towards Carneiro during the incident, but the damage to their working relationship was irreparable. Less than three months later, with Chelsea’s title defence collapsing, Mourinho himself was sacked.
More than a decade on, the documentary has dragged the saga back into the spotlight. Carneiro’s response shows the wounds from that afternoon against Swansea, and everything that followed, have not healed – and are unlikely to any time soon.
