CHELSEA manager Jose Mourinho appeared to backtrack on the decision to ban first-team doctor Eva Carneiro and physio Jon Fearn yesterday, saying that their exclusion from the bench may not be permanent.

A huge outpouring of public and professional support for Carneiro has flooded in since the Chelsea boss’s infuriated outburst at the duo for running onto the pitch to tend to star man Eden Hazard during the sides 2-2 draw with Swansea.

Fifa’s chief medical officer was the latest high-profile professional to throw his support behind the Chelsea doctor and suggested Jose Mourinho should accept her authority.

Jiri Dvorak said that club doctors have an “ethical duty to look after the players’ health” and he dismissed the notion of a manager telling medical staff to stay off the field, in the case of an injured player requiring assistance.

“I can’t see such a situation and we have to defend the position of the doctor,” Dvorak told Sky Sports News.

“Everyone involved has to respect the fact the doctor is in charge.

“I don’t want to interfere with the club as such, but I would endorse clearly what the team doctor and the physiotherapist did. When they were asked, they had to come on to the pitch.”

Boss Mourinho, who described the actions of his staff as “impulsive and naive” and suggested they needed to “understand the game,” looked to play down the affair in his press conference ahead of Sunday’s mouthwatering clash with Manchester City.

“Jon Fearn and Dr Carneiro, they will not be on the bench, but that doesnt mean Sunday is the rest of our season or our careers,” Mourinho said of the decision.

“They wont be on the bench on Sunday, that’s clear. It is my decision, my responsibility, but that doesn’t mean they cannot be in the future,” he said.

“I have a very good relation with [the medical department] and, as they tell me all the time, they were never praised so much as they were with me in the last couple of years.

“I praised them lots of times in the last couple of years. They don’t forget that, I don’t forget that.”

The south London club are keen to keep their replacement on the bench against City under wraps as they want to avoid unwanted additional attention in the build-up to the clash.