Photos: Former Chelsea doctor Eva Carneiro arrives court today to begin case against club and Jose Mourinho

The action meant that Chelsea was temporarily down to nine men against Swansea, and afterwards Mourinho called Carneiro and Fearn ''impulsive and naive''.

Carneiro did not appear on the bench again for first-team duties and later parted company with the club.

Mourinho was cleared of using discriminatory language towards her following an investigation by the Football Association. Afterwards, Carneiro and the FA's independent board member Dame Heather Rabbatts criticized the governing body for not interviewing the doctor as part of its investigation.

Mourinho could be forced to give evidence in person at a full employment tribunal, but would only face a maximum £1,000 fine if he did not attend.

Yet he could be told to pay Carneiro hundreds of thousands of pounds if she wins her case, and the club failed to indemnify Mourinho as part of his compensation package.

Carneiro has also had backing from FIFA's medical chairman Michel D'Hooghe, who contacted the doctor to offer his support and that of the world governing body. He has backed Carneiro's insistence that she was simply doing her job.