the FA wants you to know it takes racism seriously

[grrliz.livejournal.com]

Mark Clattenburg accused of racial slur during Chelsea v Manchester United

Chelsea have made a formal complaint to the football authorities about the referee Mark Clattenburg, whose handling of their 3-2 home defeat to Manchester United caused such controversy, alleging that he directed "inappropriate language" towards two of their players, with club officials briefing that one part of the allegation concerns language of a racist nature.

The west London club released a statement at eight o'clock, which brought a fresh twist to a tumultuous day. They did not reveal the identity of the players, although one of them is understood to have been the Nigeria international Mikel John Obi, a player that Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, felt had been lucky to avoid a red card from Clattenburg, in a game in which two Chelsea players, Branislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres, did receive them.

Roberto Di Matteo, the Chelsea manager, was furious at Clattenburg's decisions, in particular the one to give Torres a second yellow card for diving while the assistant referee allowed Javier Hernández's winning goal to stand, despite him having come back from an offside position. Di Matteo went to see Clattenburg after the match, flanked by some of his backroom staff, and he was aware at the time of the grievances of his players. Mikel is understood to have visited Clattenburg in his room.

"We have a lodged a complaint to the Premier League match delegate with regards to inappropriate language used by the referee and directed at two of our players in two separate incidents during today's match," said a Chelsea spokesman. "The match delegate will pass the complaint to the Football Association. We will make no further comment at this time."

Clattenburg was not reachable for comment after Chelsea's allegations but a statement from Professional Game Match Officials said it "is aware of the allegations and they are being treated with the utmost seriousness. Mark will co-operate fully and welcomes the opportunity for the facts to be established. No further comment will be made until matter has been properly investigated."

It is understood that the other Chelsea player who felt he was the victim of offensive language from Clattenburg was white, with reports suggesting it was the Spaniard Juan Mata. Chelsea are fully aware of the severity of the allegation, particularly in the wake of the John Terry-Anton Ferdinand racist slur saga.

Clattenburg was miked up throughout the game and he could be heard by his assistants and the fourth official. Their conversations would not have been recorded but they could, in theory, be in a position to assist any inquiry.

(Source, where you can read more about John Terry's racism case, who wore Kick It Out shirts and who didn't, some classy Chelsea fans booing Rio Ferdinand for existing, and everyone's Feelings™ on possibly dodgy calls during the game)

GUARDIAN EXCLUSIVE, I know, but if this turns out to be true, does anyone know how they deal with referees for this sort of thing? Do you get banned for four games? Sent down to the second division? Etc.

Comments

[frenchoral.livejournal.com]

Noooo not Mata! He is harmless and so nice!


It's going around that the ref called him a 'spanish twink' :( :(

OMG IF I EVER SEE THAT ASSHOLE REF IN PERSON, NO RESPONDO

[carminaburana.livejournal.com]

I heard on 5 Live (and elsewhere, e.g. the Daily Fail) that he called Mikel a "monkey" and Mata a "Spanish twat". And contrary to what was said in this article, I heard that Mikel tried to confront him after the match but was not allowed into the officials' locker room. Not sure how true that is, as elsewhere i'm seeing that Di Matteo, Gourlay, and Mikel went to see him together afterwards to demand an apology/explanation.


WTF!

[verses.livejournal.com]

If this really happened, it's horrible and needs to be dealt with. But considering how Chelsea handled the JT saga, I have to question the club's credibility. Have the PLAYERS actually said anything publicly about this? Because this almost seems retaliatory with JT on the bench during the game.