In a high profile racial abuse case last month, Chelsea filed a complaint of referee Mark Clattenburg accusing him using an abusive language to its Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel. That case got widest publicity, perhaps Clattenburg got banned for the time being. Now, FA ruled off all the racial allegations leveled by Chelsea, and said; it was Mikel who would have provoked the referee else there was no misconduct done by him. Actually, racial abuses have become intolerable these days, and that’s why after Terry’s case, English FA seems to be investigating every complaint it encounters with quickly. It is less than one month that event happened and FA has reached on a conclusion and decided in Referee’s favor. Notably, Clattenburg is a world’s most experienced soccer official who has been in FIFA elite penal and took charge of Olympic final at London 2012. Chelsea seems to be on the back foot after this judgment, perhaps, now, the pressure is on it to prove that there was actually something wrong happened.
Moreover, as reported in the media, another Chelsea midfielder Ramires accepted hearing Clattenburg calling Mikel, “shut up you monkey” during Chelsea 3-2 defeat from Manchester United on October 28. On the contrary, all the field officials being interviewed by FIFA, refused to hear any such comment by referee despite their link via microphones. Besides assistant referees, FIFA disciplinary committee interviewed other players as well before deciding the case. After all, it was Clattenburg who missed whole four weekends of premium league just because of one wrong racial compliant filed by Chelsea, hence everybody seems to be in his support. For now, he is ready to return to Premier League remaining fixtures. When asked about how he feels about it, he said:
“I am looking forward to putting this behind me and concentrating on refereeing in the Premier League and other competitions.
“The messages of encouragement from those inside and outside of the game have helped me through the most stressful time of my professional life.
“To know you were innocent but there was the opportunity for it to wreck your career was truly frightening.
“Racism has no place in football and this experience should not discourage those to speak out if they genuinely believe they are a victim of abuse.
“However, there are processes that should be adhered in order that any investigation can be carried out in a manner that is fair for all parties involved.
“I know first-hand the ramifications of allegations of this nature being placed into the public domain ahead of a formal process and investigation.
“I hope no referee has to go through this in the future.”