The future of referee Mark Clattenburg could come down to whether he used the word ‘monkey’ in his exchange with John Obi Mikel.
The
Sun has reported that Nigerian Mikel, who did not hear the alleged
racist slur, was told by two Chelsea team-mates - Brazilians Ramires and
David Luiz - that he was called ‘a monkey’ in the match against
Manchester United on Sunday.
When
Ramires told Mikel that he thought he’d been called ‘a monkey’, at
least three members of the Chelsea playing and coaching staff asked:
‘Are you certain?’.
He was questioned by team-mates and staff who asked if, with Clattenburg speaking with such a strong North East accent, the official had said ‘shut up, Mikel’, rather than ‘shut up, monkey’, which has been alleged.
David Luiz speaks very good English,
Ramires less so. They are both adamant they heard the slur, although
Clattenburg denies the claims and is supported by his two assistants.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed
they had acted on a ‘complaint’ from the Society of Black Lawyers after
the European champions accused Clattenburg of using racist comments. The
allegations are also the subject of a Football Association
investigation.
The police statement read: ‘An
investigation has been launched into alleged comments made during a
football match between Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC at Stamford
Bridge on 28 October 2012.
‘Officers from Hammersmith & Fulham borough are in liaison with Chelsea Football Club and the Football Association.’
Clattenburg, who has been taken off
the Premier League match list this weekend, has protested his innocence
since his controversial handling of Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat by Manchester
United on Sunday.
Culled from Daily Mail UK
No comments:
Post a Comment