By Andrew Warshaw
December 7 – John Mikel Obi, the Chelsea midfielder at the centre of the recent case concerning referee Mark Clattenburg who was cleared of racism, has himself been handed a three-match ban and fined £60,000 ($96,000/€74,000) by the English Football Association (FA) for threatening Clattenburg.
Last month the football authorities cleared Clattenburg of using “inappropriate language” towards the Nigerian during the 3-2 October defeat to Manchester United when two Chelsea players were controversially sent off.
In a highly publicised case, fellow Chelsea midfielder Ramires said he heard Clattenburg tell Mikel “shut up you monkey”.
Chelsea’s decision to report Clattenburg (pictured below) split public opinion and the FA interviewed Clattenburg, Mikel and several other Chelsea players before deciding the official had no case to answer.
Police also dropped a separate inquiry into the allegations that Clattenburg had racially abused Mikel.
Mikel admitted an FA misconduct charge but asked for a personal hearing during which the player said he genuinely believed he had been racially abused.
Had it not been for Mikel’s mistaken belief that he had been insulted, “the suspension would have been significantly longer,” the FA said in a statement.
Clattenburg, who is on the list of FIFA elite referees, missed four weekends of fixtures while the FA investigation was taking place and said when he was cleared that had endured the toughest period of his life.
His union Prospect went even further, saying it was “dismayed” at the “lenient” punishment meted out to Mikel.
Prospect national secretary Alan Leighton claimed “far too much weight” had been given to Mikel’s mitigating circumstances.
It is claimed he stormed into the referee’s room and hurled expletives in Clattenburg’s direction.
A Prospect statement added: “A player in parks football found guilty of behaviour like Mikel’s would have faced a long-term ban.”
“For entering the dressing room and threatening and intimidating the referee the penalty was no longer than for serious foul play.”
The ban on Mikel, who this week signed a new five-year deal with his club, comes into effect immediately though he is available for Chelsea’s imminent trip to the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan.
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