THE CLATTENBERG ROW GOES ON

If Mark Clattenburg uttered a racist remark to
Chelsea's John Obi Mikel, then his career as a
referee died on the pitch as dusk fell at Stamford
Bridge on Sunday Oct 28, 2012.
If Clattenburg is innocent, as the elite refereeing
community gathering at St George's Park on
Monday believe he is, then it is Chelsea who
need vigorously calling to account by the FA.
"Mark said nothing,'' insisted a leading official.
Nothing.
The feeling among certain referees contacted on
Tuesday is that this is a trumped-up charge, that
Clattenburg would never resort to such
offensive, discriminatory language. They want
the FA to address the matter today, moving
swiftly to still the latest storm to buffet the
national game.
Chelsea dispute the referees' support for
Clattenburg rigorously, alleging the Tyneside
official called Mikel a "monkey" when booking
him for dissent shortly after Javier Hernandez's
controversial winner for Manchester United.
Chelsea also infer that Clattenburg described
Juan Mata as a "Spanish t--t".
Chelsea tempers were running high midway
through the second half, the mercury sent
spiralling skywards by Clattenburg decisions. He
sent off Branislav Ivanovic correctly for bringing
down Ashley Young. Ten men went to mow, to
borrow a line from the Matthew Harding Stand.
Clattenburg then dismissed Fernando Torres
incorrectly. Nine men went to mow, went to mow
a meadow full of red-shirted opponents who duly
reaped a harvest of three points with
Hernandez's offside goal, sending the game
hurtling into meltdown.
Chelsea hit back off the pitch. They claim to
have three players ready and willing to
corroborate the testimonies of Mikel and Mata. It
is understood that one of their dressing-room
number is known to be uneasy at his employer's
aggressive stance towards Clattenburg.
Hardly pausing for breath or second thought,
Chelsea point out that Mikel went into the
referee's room to confront Clattenburg. This is
where the story becomes messy and confusing.
The Nigerian midfielder is one of the more
sanguine characters in the madhouse of English
football, not an individual whose blood races
quickly to boiling point, so something must have
piqued him. But what? An order by Clattenburg
to calm down? A misunderstanding of what
Clattenburg said?