LONDON -- On Tuesday afternoon, as thunder and lightning ravaged the sky above a rain-soaked Croydon, the impasse that had led Eva Carneiro, Chelsea and Jose Mourinho from Stamford Bridge to the corridors of the London South Employment Tribunal finally gave way to settlement.
After more than 90 minutes of uncertainty, as Chelsea officials and members of both legal teams darted from one briefing room to another under the watchful eye of journalists peering out through the small window of their own enclosure, it was announced that the most eagerly-anticipated employment tribunal in British sporting history had ended almost as soon as it had begun.
Not quite soon enough, however, for any of the parties involved to escape unscathed. Not after Monday's disclosure of the accusations and allegations that underpinned the arguments on both sides of the case, and laid bare just how rancorous this dispute had been allowed to become before it was resolved behind closed doors.
Just 304 days after Carneiro ran onto the Stamford Bridge pitch behind Jon Fearn to treat Eden Hazard, the former Chelsea medic got the unreserved public apology she had been seeking -- from Chelsea, not from Mourinho. In a statement released on their website, the club also backed her actions on Aug. 8, 2015, and acknowledged the professional integrity she had shown throughout her time as the club's first team doctor.
But this eloquent tribute will forever be undermined by the skeleton argument circulated to the assembled media less than 24 hours earlier.
On Monday, Chelsea pulled no punches in their attempts to discredit Carneiro's claims and motives, stating on the first day of the tribunal that they had made an open offer of £1.2 million to settle her claims, due to their assertion that "it is in no one's interest that this dispute should be determined through litigation." Dan Stilitz QC, acting for Chelsea, added in Monday's session: "We can only assume she's embarrassed by the amount she's claiming."
The unexpected arrivals of Mourinho, chairman Bruce Buck and director Marina Granovskaia at London South Employment Tribunal on Tuesday afternoon further underlined the seriousness in which Chelsea were approaching the proceedings and gave no indication on the settlement that was to come.
In the event, Carneiro was spared what was expected to be more than two days of hostile questioning from Stilitz on her recollections of those discordant weeks in August and September 2015.
In her statement, Carneiro greeted Tuesday's resolution simply as the chance to move on from a traumatic chapter in her life. Chelsea's official apology and affirmation of her professional integrity leaves the door open for her to one day return to English football if she so chooses.
Mourinho has already moved on into his own dream job, and will no doubt be relieved that he can now focus fully on the task of rejuvenating Manchester United. But his failure to publicly apologise to Carneiro -- despite Chelsea's admission that she acted correctly on Aug. 8 -- ensures his time in charge at Old Trafford will begin under a cloud as dark and stormy as the one that assailed Croydon on Tuesday afternoon.
"One day I will speak, and I will choose that day," a defiant Mourinho said last October in response to a question about his dispute with Carneiro. When tribunal proceedings began on Monday and it emerged that he had agreed to provide a witness statement and be cross-examined by Mary O'Rourke QC, the day in question appeared to be close at hand.
Despite numerous questions addressed to him outside the tribunal after the announcement, he said no more as accompanying security guards bundled him through a fierce media scrum and into a waiting car.
Soon afterwards Carneiro also left London South Employment Tribunal, having brought her 10-month battle against Chelsea and Mourinho to an end with a private settlement. From the outside looking in, it's difficult to see any winners.