Chelsea call for inquiry over Cech injury

dpa German Press Agency
Published: Tuesday October 17, 2006

Manchester- Chelsea have confirmed they will write to the Football Association to ask them to look into "a number of issues" arising from Saturday's game at Reading in which both their goalkeepers were carried off. Petr Cech suffered a fractured skull in a first-minute collision with Stephen Hunt, and then Carlo Cudicini was knocked unconscious after a late clash with Ibrahima Sonko.

A club statement read: "Chelsea Football Club will be submitting a letter to the Football Association over the next few days regarding a number of issues that arose from the match at Reading last Saturday.

"We can confirm that questions regarding the two tackles on Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini, and the medical procedures to treat the injuries sustained by our players, will be in the submission.

"We have not prejudged the outcome of this submission and Chelsea FC want to stress that we will be asking the FA to look into these issues.

"But we believe there are serious questions that warrant further investigation by the relevant authority."

The statement came a few hours after manager Jose Mourinho had criticised Cech's treatment at the stadium.

He complained that Cech had been forced off his stretcher into a wheelchair, and that it had taken half an hour for him to reach an ambulance.

Reading promptly hit back with a time-line of Saturday's incident, and there are disparities in their and Chelsea's version of who called the ambulance and when.

They also insist it was Chelsea who opted to use the wheelchair.

© 2006 dpa German Press Agency