FA decision on Clattenburg to be revealed next week
Referee Mark Clattenburg will not discover the outcome of the Football Association’s investigation into a complaint by Chelsea against the match official until next week.
The timing of the decision means that Clattenburg could now miss a fourth weekend of matches even if the FA announces that no action will be taken.
The Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) announces the list of referees for the following weekend’s matches on Monday and previously Clattenburg has opted out of officiating while the case is still going on.
Chelsea have alleged that Clattenburg used inappropriate language, understood to have been interpreted as racist, towards their midfielder John Obi Mikel during the London club’s 3-2 defeat by Manchester United on October 28.
The FA has interviewed several Chelsea players including Mikel, plus Clattenburg, the two assistant referees Michael McDonough and Simon Long and fourth official Michael Jones. Clattenburg strenuously denies the allegations.
An independent QC is studying all the evidence in close detail before recommending a decision. The sensitivities of the case, heightened by the fact it comes so soon after Chelsea skipper John Terry’s four-match ban for racist abuse, means that the FA is being ultra-cautious to ensure that it has left no stone unturned in its investigation.
Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck gave a long interview this week defending their actions – something that caused disquiet at the PGMO referees organisation, who believed the club should not have gone public over the issue before the FA had reached its conclusions.
Clattenburg himself has been shocked after finding himself and his family targeted by paparazzi, even after the police announced on Tuesday that they were not pursuing a complaint against him lodged by the Society of Black Lawyers.
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