Mourinho comments provoke reaction

Jose Mourinho’s claims that his seriously injured goalkeeper Petr Cech was kept waiting for an ambulance have provoked further reaction today.

The South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust have hit back at Mourinho’s comments, which they claim tarnish their reputation.

The ambulance service insist they reacted quickly and efficiently to provide Cech with the best possible treatment after he suffered a depressed fracture of his skull in a game at Reading’s Madejski Stadium on Saturday.

Mark Ainsworth, the Trust’s operations manager on duty at the match, tackled Mourinho’s chief concerns that it took 30 minutes to get Cech into the ambulance and that his keeper was forced to climb into a wheelchair to use a lift.

Firstly, he contested Chelsea’s claim that their club doctor Bryan English had requested an ambulance at 5.35pm and insists it was at least five minutes later.

Ainsworth said: “We didn’t take half an hour. It wasn’t our delay. We are disappointed to have been dragged into it. It has tarnished our name.”

An ambulance is always stationed at the Madejski Stadium during a game, in line with the ‘Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds’ based on the findings of Lord Justice Taylor’s report into the Hillsborough disaster in 1989.

There was a crowd of 24,025 to watch Reading against Chelsea, on Saturday, and the medical cover present consisted of one paramedic ambulance and crew, 31 first-aiders, two doctors and operations officer Ainsworth.

They are primed to look after the crowd but are obviously on hand to help the players if needed.

Cech was injured in a collision with Stephen Hunt in the first minute of the game, which kicked-off at 5.15pm and, after treatment on the pitch, was carried from the pitch on a stretcher, under the supervision of the club’s medical experts.

Ainsworth insists it was not until just after 5.40pm that he received a radio call from the Chelsea doctor, who said Cech’s condition had deteriorated and he wanted the paramedics to look at him.

The paramedics walked from their position at the side of the pitch and were with the goalkeeper within “a matter of seconds”, according to Ainsworth.

They then assessed Cech and called for the ambulance at 5.45pm, before making the necessary preparations to move their patient.

Ainsworth called for a second ambulance to be sent to the ground because it was so early in the game and there should always be one present, in accordance with the guidelines.

He decided, in the three or four minutes it would take the paramedics to get Cech ready to move, the new vehicle would be at the ground and able to take the injured player to hospital.

The second ambulance arrived at the Madejski at 5.52pm.

Inside the ground, the paramedics had put Cech on oxygen and a drip but the goalkeeper was still conscious and able to talk and moved himself into the wheelchair.

He was taken to ground level in the lift, which is not big enough for a stretcher, then transferred onto a stretcher before moving into the ambulance.

Ainsworth said: “We have two options. One is to take the player on a stretcher round the pitch and through a tunnel. The other is into a chair and into the lift.”

Chelsea argue that they asked to leave the ground by the quickest exit and were not told this route involved moving Cech into a chair.

Ainsworth said: “We gave both options to the Chelsea doctor and he said he was happy to for us to use the chair. We explained the limitations of the lift, that it would not take a stretcher.

“If it had been a spinal injury we would have had to go the other way but Petr Cech was able to transfer himself into the chair and then onto a stretcher.”

When Cech’s replacement Carlo Cudicini was knocked unconscious and swallowed his tongue in the last minute of the same game, paramedics were able to put him onto a stretcher and take him straight from the pitch to the ambulance outside the ground.

Chelsea insist they are not trying to apportion blame but remain unsatisfied with the way events unfolded at the Madejski Stadium from the initial challenge by Hunt on Cech to the provisions in place for their injured goalkeeper.

The club plan to compile a letter and send it to the Football Association, detailing the concerns which Mourinho raised at his routine press conference ahead of the Champions League clash with Barcelona.

The FA will study Chelsea’s observations when the letter arrives, although safety at a Premiership game falls under the auspices of the Premier League.

In the meantime, the FA are unlikely to pursue any disciplinary action arising from events on the pitch at Reading.

Mourinho is convinced Hunt’s challenge was reckless and worthy of a straight red card.

Referee Mike Riley saw the incident and thought differently but Chelsea are expected to pursue it on the grounds that it is a special case, like Ben Thatcher’s elbow on Pedro Mendes this season.

Chelsea will mention Hunt’s challenge and other issues in their letter.

Some of these remain private but, judging from the emotion behind Mourinho’s remarks, it is fair to assume they will lodge their concerns about Cech’s treatment and the set-up at the Madejski Stadium.

Reading issued their own statement yesterday, rejecting Mourinho’s version of events and do not plan to expand on it.

The club’s head of communications Andy West said: “After the comments from Jose Mourinho, we wanted to set the record straight and present the facts as they were and we did that with the statement.

“We feel that all the necessary provisions were in place and that Petr Cech received the best possible treatment under the guidance and control of the Chelsea club doctor.”