Premier League managers could be punished for interfering with medical treatment of players

Jose Mourinho was subjected to widespread ire for his reaction to Eden Hazard’s medical treatment

Jamaican lawyer and businesswoman Heather Rabbatts issued a warning that the FA could make it a disciplinary offence for managers to interfere with the treatment of players during games. The FA are reportedly reviewing their guidelines after Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho's altercation with two members of his medical staff.

The Special One blasted club doctor Eva Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn for treating Eden Hazard in Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Swansea on the opening day of the season. In his post-match rant, the Portuguese manager accused the doctors of being naive regarding the game as their treatment of the Belgian winger meant the player had to come off the pitch, leaving Chelsea temporarily with nine men, having already had goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois sent off earlier.

In her speech at the Leaders In Sport conference at the Stamford Bridge, FA board member Rabbatts stated: "I think we have to look within the FA at the processes. I'm sure that's something that we will be doing in forthcoming weeks in conversations with the FA. "

"The issue of safeguarding players is clearly vitally important. There are a number of concerns out there shared by the Premier League doctors and the association of medical practitioners on this.”, added the former member of FIFA’s anti-discrimination taskforce.

Under the existing guidelines, a player can request treatment, or the match official can decide to call for it if he believes the player requires it.

The Premier League Doctors' Group believe that Carneiro and Fearn had no option other than to enter the pitch and treat Hazard or stand guilty of failing in their task as care-givers after being called on by referee Michael Oliver to do so.

Both Carneiro and Fearn had their roles reduced by manager Jose Mourinho after the incident with Carneiro choosing to leave her post and seek employment elsewhere.

Rabbatts, who became the first woman to be appointed as a director of The Football Association in 2011 also advocated the need for more effective sanctions if the protocols that are currently in place are breached.

"Maybe we need to think about it being a disciplinary offence if there are any interferences between the referee and the medical staff ", added Rabbatts who made her name as the youngest council chief in England.

Rabbatts concluded her speech with the statement - "There's a number of things we need to look at now and reflect on, on how better we can all be across the game when incidents like this happen. I sincerely hope that we see Eva Carneiro back in the game."