Thursday 1 October 2015 07:14, UK
The group Women in Football say they are "appalled" at the FA’s decision to take no action against Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho over his touchline dispute with Dr Eva Carneiro.
Mourinho criticised Carneiro for going on to the pitch along with physio Jon Fearn to treat midfielder Eden Hazard during their first game of the season against Swansea.
That analysis is disputed by Women in Football, a network of professional women working in and around football, who also employed the services of a language expert to determine whether Mourinho had used unacceptable language towards Carneiro.
"Women in Football (WiF) are appalled by the conclusion of the FA investigation into Jose Mourinho's conduct during, and following, Chelsea's match against Swansea on 8th August 2015," read a statement on their official website.
"Contrary to the FA's appointed expert's advice, which WiF has not seen, our own language expert made it abundantly clear that the abusive words used by Mr Mourinho on the touchline that day were specifically directed towards a woman, as indicated by the grammar of his sentence.
"Other Portuguese speakers we contacted in gathering evidence also emphasised this point. We therefore find it extraordinary that any expert or Portuguese speaker would report otherwise.
"WiF can only conclude that this latest investigation provides yet another damning example of the FA failing to tackle discrimination, specifically sexism, in the football industry.
"Once again we are concerned by what we can only perceive as serious flaws in the process of such investigations. It is also disappointing that even on the day this investigation was announced by the FA, reports had already appeared in the media suggesting that Mr Mourinho was unlikely to be charged.
"The conclusion from the investigation also leads us to question the FA's commitment to referees and medics. If a similar incident were to occur in the future should the medic listen to the club manager not the referee in charge of the game? This sets a disturbing precedent.
"At a time when the Department of Culture, Media and Sport are looking into how to improve the landscape for women in the football industry, and more generally engaging women and girls in sport, this latest episode sends out a seriously worrying counter message to those efforts."
The FA subsequently decided to defend its process in response to Women in Football's statement.
"The linguistic was native Portuguese and has taught at the highest level universities in both Portugal and the UK with many published works on both Portuguese lexicography and lexicology and Portuguese linguistics including modern day vernacular," the FA said.
