Clattenburg

[Rouge Penguin]

What did he say? Varies between Spanish twat and tart, aimed at Torres. Nothing on the Mikel insults?

Surely he's not that dumb, so soon after signing a 5 year contract at Old Trafford

 

[Jack D Rips]

It wasnt twat or tart . It was t**t

 

[keniget]

I can't help but think it's a case of Chelsea being a bit dirty here... surely Clattenburg isn't so stupid that he'd say something in the current climate.

 

[dantes]

I think it's safe to assume that Clattenburg is stupid. The other officials will claim not to remember what was said then quietly back away. So it will be the word of two Chelsea players, against one stupid referee. Balance those probabilities motherfuckers.

 

[Holle]

I'm fairly sure they record the communications between the referees.

So I guess the FA could easily reveal what has been sad.

They won't, of course.

 

[Woland]

I'm fairly sure they record the communications between the referees.

They don't.

 

[juniormember]

They don't.

Really?! Shocked.

 

[Spionkop69]

When was the last time Clattenberg reffed Utd? Over a year ago is what is being touted. Bet it aint a year until his next appointment!

 

[Holle]

Really? They don't?

Is it an FA thing that they don't?

 

[Woland]

I dunno. I read that this morning, I think the BBC article. They've never recorded those officials convos.

 

[Holle]

Uefa did though. They even made a film about Euro 2008.

 

[Markeh]

it's a crime to call Torres a Spanish twat?

well lock me up and throw away the keys

 

[refugee]

it's a crime to call Torres a Spanish twat?

well lock me up and throw away the keys

We are going to need new prisons....

 

[Woland]

Well it wasn't a crime for Evra to call Suarez a south american sister fucker or whatever it was.

 

[Spionkop69]

We are going to need new prisons....

We could use the Isle of Wight?

 

[refugee]

We could use the Isle of Wight?

What's the Sky reception like?

 

[gkmacca]

I can't help but think it's a case of Chelsea being a bit dirty here... surely Clattenburg isn't so stupid that he'd say something in the current climate.

That's what I was thinking. They were looking for a tit-for-tat case after Terry's ban, and then there was the sour grapes after his decisions yesterday. It sounds very cynical.

 

[Hansern]

Both linesmen and the 4th official will have heard it though.

 

[Rosco]

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.
Terry did not play here, as he served the second part of his four-match domestic ban from the FA for the racist abuse of Ferdinand, the QPR defender, but Rio Ferdinand did play for United. He was the subject of cat-calls, his every touch booed and, after Hernández's winner, he struck a defiant celebratory pose that appeared to enrage the crowd, leading to missiles being thrown.
This was after Chelsea had chosen to support the Kick It Out anti-racism campaign and Terry mentioned his club's "pride" at backing the campaign in his programme notes. Terry wore an anti-racism badge for the day. All of the Chelsea players wore Kick It Out T-shirts in the warm-up; the United winger, Ashley Young, was the only player who did not. It was unclear whether he was making a statement. There were ironic cheers from the United supporters when the on-pitch announcer read out the anti-discrimination message and, over 90 frenetic minutes, there was also rancour between the benches, Ferguson clashing with Di Matteo and members of the Chelsea staff after Torres's red card and at full-time.
Rio Ferdinand shook hands beforehand with Ashley Cole, who had given evidence in support of Terry at the Chelsea captain's magistrates court trial for abusing Anton. It felt as though a line had attempted to be drawn under one of the modern game's most destructive episodes, only for another controversy to erupt.
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.
Di Matteo was furious at his post-match press conference, although he focused only on Clattenburg's decisions in relation to the match. "Yes, I have been in to see him," he said. "Surely, when he's going to watch the images he's going to realise that he made big mistakes.
"We are massively disappointed that these key decisions were wrong. It always seems to be in favour of the opposition. That's a massive disadvantage for us. I thought at 2-2, we looked like the team that were probably going to win the game. You don't want the referees to be a big influence in the game, you let the two teams play each other and play a good game, that's what everybody loves to watch."

 

[RedZeppelin III]

If it's proven that he didn't say these things or do anything wrong then surely you have to throw the book at chelsea . To make accusations like this they have to be 100% sure , there can be no 'maybes' or doubts because i guess now he can never ref them again .

 

[Athens]

If it's proven that he didn't say these things or do anything wrong then surely you have to throw the book at chelsea . To make accusations like this they have to be 100% sure , there can be no 'maybes' or doubts because i guess now he can never ref them again .

That could be a genius idea on Chelsea's part. Accuse the refs who are clearly in utd's pocket so they can't referee a match between them again.

 

[juniormember]

If it's proven that he didn't say these things or do anything wrong then surely you have to throw the book at chelsea . To make accusations like this they have to be 100% sure , there can be no 'maybes' or doubts because i guess now he can never ref them again .

Not really.
They'll be pinning their hopes on the revolutionary judicial system called 'Balance of probability'.

 

[Sunny]

That could be a genius idea on Chelsea's part. Accuse the refs who are clearly in utd's pocket so they can't referee a match between them again.

Regardless of whether it happened or not it will discredit Clattenburg and sets doubts in peoples minds. It's tricky ground for the FA though. Football has actually become such a small part of football these days hasn't it ?

 

[Athens]

Regardless of whether it happened or not it will discredit Clattenburg and sets doubts in peoples minds. It's tricky ground for the FA though. Football has actually become such a small part of football these days hasn't it ?

Unfortunately yes.

I personally think that's one of the reasons why the likes of Slapp Bladder doesn't want video refs etc in the game, it will make it harder for refs to control the game and hand the advantage to the bigger sides. The likes of FIFA will then have less control over it and the bigger teams/nations will get knocked out of tournaments easier.

 

[Rosco]

Twattenburg.

 

[Jack D Rips]

If it's proven that he didn't say these things or do anything wrong then surely you have to throw the book at chelsea . To make accusations like this they have to be 100% sure , there can be no 'maybes' or doubts because i guess now he can never ref them again .

But there can be "maybes" or "doubts". Its probability that counts. Isnt that the problem with the FA system?

 

[Rosco]

But there can be "maybes" or "doubts". Its probability that counts. Isnt that the problem with the FA system?

The balance of probabilities is a worldwide standard of proof in civil cases (non criminal proceedings). It isn't an FA system.

 

[Jack D Rips]

But there can be "maybes" or "doubts". Its probability that counts. quote]

Ok. I fixed it.

 

[keniget]

Regardless of whether it happened or not it will discredit Clattenburg and sets doubts in peoples minds. It's tricky ground for the FA though. Football has actually become such a small part of football these days hasn't it ?

Yup. But the fact that the system is so open to abuse is their own fault... they've dealt with things poorly and let tensions run really high within the game. It'd be great if they fell on their own swords.

 

[Hansern]

He wont be refereeing this weekend, I bet Fergie is gutted.