Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Mourinho determined to disgrace Chelsea

If it wasn't enough to virtually accuse someone of attempting to kill his player (see Hunt innocent but what about Mourinho) without any supporting evidence Jose Mourinho has blundered again with factually inaccurate statements about the time it took for an ambulance to arrive to treat his player.

According to the BBC Mourinho claims that "My goalkeeper was in the dressing room for 30 minutes waiting for an ambulance." and went on to say "He left 30 minutes after my doctor called for an urgent ambulance."

The only problem with his accusations are that they do not marry up at all with the official timeline issued by Reading Football Club yesterday. This gives the timings as follows :

17.16 The collision between Petr Cech and Stephen Hunt occurred and treatment was provided on the pitch.

17.21 Petr Cech was taken into the dressing room on a stretcher. Chelsea Football Club's medical staff were in charge of the treatment provided to Cech. At first, they decided that it was not necessary to call an ambulance.

17.40 Cech's condition deteriorated and the Chelsea doctor called for assistance which was immediately raised from the stadium medical control.

17.45 After a brief inspection of Cech, the paramedics called for an ambulance.

17.52 The ambulance arrived at the players' entrance.

18.04 The ambulance departed Madejski Stadium.

18.11 The ambulance arrived at the Royal Berkshire Hospital.

This statement seems to be supported by the South Central Ambulance Service who issued their timeline as follows :

17.15 Cech injured

17.20 Cech taken to dressing room. Chelsea doctor does not think ambulance necessary

17.45 Cech's condition deteriorates and Chelsea doctor requests ambulance

17.52 Ambulance arrives at Madejski Stadium

18.11 Ambulance arrives at Royal Berkshire hospital

They went onto say "The removal of the patient was a decision taken by Chelsea, who were offered two routes. One was round the pitch on a stretcher. The other was by a small lift, via a wheelchair." This again completely contradicts Mourinho's statement that the only way the player could get from the dressing room to the ambulance was via a lift.

At some point it seems to me that someone has to step in and make Mourinho responsible for his increasingly bizarre behaviour. Everyone understands that Chelsea have lost two goalkeepers and that one of them was seriously injured. Everyone wishes Petr Cech a swift recovery. But these facts cannot justify Mourinho's statements and it is time that the FA took some action against Mourinho for bringing the game into disrepute

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