Featured Image Credit: Getty Images - Instagram/drevacarneiro
Topics: Chelsea, Premier League, Jose Mourinho, West Ham United, Non-League
Jack Kenmare
Topics: Chelsea, Premier League, Jose Mourinho, West Ham United, Non-League
It's been more than eight years since Eva Carneiro decided to leave her role as first-team doctor at Premier League side Chelsea – and she remains heavily involved in football.
The 50-year-old, a sports medicine specialist from Gibraltar, entered the world of football in the late 00's after completing her MSc in Sport and Exercise at Queen Mary University of London.
She went on to work for the likes of West Ham, the British Olympic team and the England women's football team before joining Chelsea back in 2009.
Two years later, Carneiro was promoted to work alongside the first team by then-manager Andre Villas-Boas, and continued her role under the likes of Roberto Di Matteo, Rafael Benitez and Jose Mourinho.
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However, things started to turn sour in 2015 after Mourinho publicly criticised Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn for running onto the pitch to treat Eden Hazard during a game against Swansea.
A month later, Mourinho was cleared of any wrongdoing, while Carneiro left Chelsea and took the club to court before settling for a reported £5 million over her dismissal.
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Back in 2017, she admitted in an interview with L'Equipe that it took her almost a year to be able to watch a football game again.
"The final of the 2016 Champions League was the only game that I could sit down in front of last year," she added.
So what has she been up to since? As well as being a specialist at The Sports Medical Group in London – a private clinic on Harley Street – she was a consultant for a hospital in Qatar prior to last winter's World Cup.
Carneiro is also the "proud" owner of Isthmian League Premier Division side Lewes FC and Women's Championship side Lewes FC Women.
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Speaking about the project in November 2021, she said: "Love the beautiful game and football has such power. Imagine using it for good. Imagine finding a club with values as the centre of its ethos. I’m a proud owner of @lewesfcwomen and @lewesfcmen."
Back in November last year, she modelled Lewes FC's home kit on her Instagram account.
Judy Murray, mother of tennis player Andy Murray, is also an owner at Lewes.
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Karen Dobres, who is an elected director at Lewes FC, was full of praise for Carneiro when she joined the club, naming her as the "perfect person" to be involved in their project.
"It is brilliant to have Eva come on board, it does the club a good service," she said. "We are trying to be the most owned club in the UK and then the world and it helps towards our mission.
"We want the biggest platform possible for our messages of equality and sticking to principles and values. Eva is the perfect person to join Lewes FC and promote our message."