Clattenburg Career Is Over If He Makes Racist Remarks - Graham Poll

Mark Clattenburg

After the allegations levelled against Mark Clattenburg, former top referee, Graham Poll, has suggested that if he is indeed found guilty of making racist remarks, his career is as good as over.

Poll made this clear in his Monday column for the UK Mail. He wrote: “Mark Clattenburg will be feeling mixed emotions. He’ll feel incredibly low and after such a high-adrenaline match full of incidents it is impossible not to come down… hard.
“Especially when the game finished as unsatisfactorily from the officials’ perspective as this one did. And faced with the very serious allegations he will also feel angry and worried.
“Angry that he is subject to such allegations given all the abuse that he, along with so many other officials, allow themselves to be subjected to week in week out; and worried in case, in the heat of the moment he forgot himself and made inappropriate comments.
“Not racist ones, he’ll know if he made those and will know his career is over if he did; but comments including foul or inappropriate words that he cannot recall making. When the pressure is at its greatest things are said and done which do not bear scrutiny.
“In November 2006 I was accused of making inappropriate remarks to three Chelsea players during their defeat at White Hart Lane.
“Nothing as serious as the allegations that Clattenburg faces but serious enough to worry me as to what would happen to me. I was livid at even being asked if I had made the comments attributed to me by three players.
“I was 99 per cent certain I had said nothing wrong and yet I was still worried until my colleagues confirmed that I had not said anything untoward. The point is the job means so much to a referee, if there is any possibility of it being taken away it brings out irrational thoughts. You know you are innocent but what if…?
“I don’t know if Clattenburg feels that way, whether he knows he is completely innocent. He has said that he will co-operate fully, of course he has to.
“He will have got on the phone to Mick McDonagh and Simon Long, his two assistants and his select group referee colleague, Mike Jones, who was acting as fourth official.
“All three will have been on the referee communication system and heard every word that Clattenburg said during play. He will have wanted to speak to them, not to ‘get their stories straight’ but to re-confirm that he said nothing inappropriate.
“In such a high pressure environment Clattenburg may well have used an expletive or two. It’s hard not to if you are in that atmosphere where foul language prevails.
“Clattenburg will be contacted by the FA compliance department and asked for a written statement in response to the complaint made by Chelsea Football Club. So will the other three match officials.
“Then the FA disciplinary department will look at the statements and any evidence that they have gathered from video footage and decide if Clattenburg has a case to answer.
“If he does then he will probably be suspended until such a hearing, which should not take the months and months to prepare that other cases have done.
The question everyone is asking is, if all comments made by and to the referee were recorded this case could be settled very quickly.” (Source:DailyPost)