Soccer Referee Mark Clattenburg Accused of Using Racial Slur Against Chelsea Player During Premier League Game

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Oct 28, 2012

Soccer Referee Mark Clattenburg Accused of Using Racial Slur Against Chelsea Player During Premier League GameRoberto di Matteo accused Mark Clattenburg of “ruining” Sunday’s game. That was the least damning of the charges leveled against the soccer referee.

Chelsea has accused Clattenburg of using racially abusive language toward at least one of its players, the Mirror reports.

The allegations follow a contentious Premier League game between Chelsea and Manchester United, during which Clattenburg sent off two Chelsea players — Branislav Ivanovic and Fernando Torres — and allowed Javier Hernandez‘s winning goal to stand despite him coming from an offside position to score. United won the heated game 3-2.

The severity of the blown calls pales in comparison to the accusations of verbal abuse. Chelsea intends to make a formal complaint about Clattenburg’s behavior.

“We have lodged to the Premier League match delegate regarding inappropriate language used by the referee towards two of our players in two separate incidents in today’s game,” Chelsea said.

“The match delegate will pass the complaints to the Football Association. We will make no further comment at this time.”

Chelsea has not revealed the identity of the players that Clattenburg allegedly abused or what exactly was said. But the Mirror reports midfielder John Obi Mikel and a Spanish player — perhaps Torres, Cesar Azpilicueta or Juan Mata — were the targets.

“Mikel is understood to have stormed to Clattenburg’s dressing room after the match hurling expletives at the County Durham official. It is unclear whether the two incidents are connected,” the report says.

“Clattenburg is alleged to have made the remarks during the match. The players in turn are understood to have made their allegations to Chelsea officials in their dressing room after the final whistle.”

Di Matteo gave his furious assessment immediately following the game. He had not yet joined his players in the dressing room, so his comments about Clattenburg ruining the game were based solely on those contentious decisions. Expect the Italian to be measured and precise with his comments when he publicly addresses the allegations this week.

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