Backheel Breakfast: Finally, someone cares about Dr. Carneiro getting abused by fans

Dr. Eva Carneiro has been Chelsea’s team doctor for four years, during which time she’s received a ridiculous flood of sexist abuse at football grounds while doing her job. A video of fans chanting for her to take her shirt off, along with much worse, has finally gotten widespread attention even though it was one of 14 recorded by Women in Football, an advocacy group campaigning for equality for women in the sport.

The proper footballing authorities are waking up to this, and guess what? They might actually care this time! The FA and British minister for sport Helen Grant are backing measures to treat sexist abuse as seriously as racist abuse, and are pushing to get more women involved at the highest level of football.

It’s taken way too long for authorities to take notice of the issue of sexist chanting at games, and more specifically, the constant abuse directed at Dr. Carneiro. If you want to know how widespread this is, do a Twitter search for ‘Chelsea physio’ or ‘Dr. Eva’ next time you’re watching a game and a Chelsea player gets injured. The flood of vile comments comes down instantaneously, from thousands of people. This is every Chelsea game, for four years.

Dr. Carneiro, by the way, is a total badass. You should watch this talk she gave about her job and the challenges female professionals face. Hopefully one of those challenges will no longer be dealing with abuse shouted at her while she’s treating players.

Papiss Cisse has been suspended 7 games for spitting after accepting his FA charge, while Jonny Evans has not accepted the charge yet. (Guardian)

Carlton Cole is facing a possible suspension for tweeting abuse at a fan. Here’s the tweet. (BBC)

Arsenal’s latest signing Gabriel is fitting right in. He’s out 2-3 weeks with a hamstring injury. Arsenal DNA! (BBC)

Bayern defender Mehdi Benatia is back in first team training. (Bundesliga.com)

There’s no Wembley of Spain, so Copa del Rey finalists get to have dumb fights about the final venue. (AS)

Sebastian Giovinco, who plays for Toronto FC, says ‘the US fascinated me’. Poor guy. (Football Italia translating Corierre dello Sport)

The top four race could be really fun, since Manchester United and Arsenal have tough run-ins, while Tottenham and Southampton don’t. (Telegraph)

”An absolute disgrace. We have been talking about this for over a year, staying united and this what we came up with? We caved in under pressure,” said an anonymous MLS vet about the new CBA. Ouch. (Goal.com)

Michael Cox on Arsenal’s inconsistency. (ESPN FC)

Leander Schaerlaeckens on Anderlecht’s history. (Soccer Gods)

Jacob Steinberg on no-look passes. (Guardian)

The section in which nothing should be taken seriously.

Cristiano Ronaldo is apparently going to be sold this summer or next. (Mirror)

That would fund a move for Paul Pogba ... who might stay at Juventus. (Daily Mail)

Manchester United have reportedly made a bid to sign Brazilian wonderkid Kenedy. (Metro)

Fiorentina pulled off a surprise Coppa Italia win away to Juventus. (Viola Nation)

Check out the highlights of Thursday’s Copa Libertadores matches. (FootballManiaChannel)

Clearly we can’t list it all, so here’s the best of the best.

USA vs. Switzerland (Friday, 12 p.m.) - The U.S. women play their second Algarve Cup game against a fun World Cup dark horse.

LA Galaxy vs. Chicago Fire (Friday, 10 p.m.) - The MLS season opener, featuring Chicago’s three new DPs and budding teenage star Bradford Jamieson IV.

Schalke 04 vs. Hoffenheim (Saturday, 9:30 a.m.) - The Bundesliga’s best match this weekend.

QPR vs. Tottenham (Saturday, 10 a.m.) - The only Premier League game. Stupid FA Cup.

Athletic Club vs. Real Madrid (Saturday, 12 p.m.) - It’s been a bit of a disappointing season for Athletic, but they’re doing well in the Copa del Rey and San Mames is a tough place to go.

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Toronto FC (Saturday, 6 p.m.) - A legit rivalry game and the debuts of Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco.

Portland Timbers vs. RSL (Saturday, 10:30 p.m.) - The best MLS game on Saturday.

Barcelona vs. Rayo Vallecano (Sunday, 7 a.m.) - Not sure why this is so early.

Napoli vs. Inter Milan (Sunday, 3:45 p.m.) - A wild watchable Serie A match appears!

Atletico Madrid vs. Valencia (Sunday, 4 p.m.) - This is probably the best game anywhere in the world this weekend.

Orlando City vs. New York City FC (Sunday, 5 p.m.) - The debut of two new franchises, plus Kaka and David Villa, in a sold-out Citrus Bowl. It’s going to be cool.

Seattle Sounders vs. New England Revolution (Sunday, 9:30 p.m.) - Putting my stake in the ground: this is an MLS Cup Final preview.