Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has revealed that ex-Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel tried to punch him following a controversial Chelsea vs. Manchester United match in October 2012.
Clattenburg, now 50, shared the story during an interview on the Under The Cosh podcast. He recounted how Mikel stormed into the officials’ dressing room at Stamford Bridge, throwing punches after allegations that Clattenburg had used a racial slur during the game.
Chelsea had accused Clattenburg of calling Mikel a “monkey” during the intense match, but the Football Association (FA) later cleared the referee of any misconduct. Meanwhile, Mikel received a three-match ban and was fined £60,000 for threatening Clattenburg.
Describing the incident, Clattenburg said:
“There was a bit of commotion outside the dressing room door. I opened it and John Obi Mikel came bursting through, swinging punches. I ducked. He tried to pin me against the wall, shouting expletives.”
He added a surreal twist to the story:
“About 30 seconds later, someone knocked on the door again. I thought, ‘Not again!’ But it was a security guard saying, ‘Obi Mikel left his flip-flop in the dressing room, can he have it back?’ I thought, ‘Are you joking?’”
Clattenburg also spoke about the emotional impact the episode had on him, calling it one of the darkest moments of his career:
“I didn’t want to come back. I was mentally shattered. For the first few days, I couldn’t eat or drink. I started questioning myself, wondering if I had actually said something. It was an absolute disgrace.”
He suggested that Chelsea’s reaction might have been motivated by a desire for “payback” after the FA’s sanction of John Terry for racially abusing QPR’s Anton Ferdinand in 2011. Terry was fined and banned by the FA but was acquitted in court.
Clattenburg said the initial focus from match officials was not on the racism claim but on the events in the dressing room:
“All the match observer cared about was what I was going to report about the dressing room. Then, an hour later, I was accused of being a racist.”
He questioned how Mikel had managed to reach the officials’ dressing room and speculated on the player’s state of mind:
“He shouldn’t have been able to get that close with security in place. I thought he was just upset about the result and I happened to be in the way.”
Despite the ordeal, Clattenburg resumed his refereeing career but admits the incident left a lasting impact on him.
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