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| Mark Clattenburg ‘axed for weekend games’ after going to Ed Sheeran gig | Mark Clattenburg ‘axed for weekend games’ after going to Ed Sheeran gig |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| Mark Clattenburg will not take charge of a Premier League game this weekend having travelled alone to West Bromwich Albion’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace last Saturday so he could make it back to Newcastle in time to attend an Ed Sheeran concert, according to reports. | Mark Clattenburg will not take charge of a Premier League game this weekend having travelled alone to West Bromwich Albion’s 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace last Saturday so he could make it back to Newcastle in time to attend an Ed Sheeran concert, according to reports. |
| Referees must travel with their assistants to and from games for security and integrity purposes but Clattenburg drove by himself to The Hawthorns so he could return home in enough time to attend the gig at the Metro Radio Arena, according to the Daily Mail and the Sun. | Referees must travel with their assistants to and from games for security and integrity purposes but Clattenburg drove by himself to The Hawthorns so he could return home in enough time to attend the gig at the Metro Radio Arena, according to the Daily Mail and the Sun. |
| Clattenburg also allegedly spoke on the phone to the Crystal Palace manager, Neil Warnock, while in his car after the game. Premier League rules allow referees to speak to managers only when their assistants are present or when given permission by the Professional Game Match Officials. That regulation is intended to stop employees speaking to managers in potentially highly-charged circumstances where witnesses may be needed. | |
| Warnock claimed after the match that West Brom’s Craig Dawson had almost “assaulted” Palace’s goalkeeper Julián Speroni when Victor Anichebe scored in the 2-2 draw, comparing the incident to Peter Murphy’s challenge on Bert Trautmann in the 1956 FA Cup final. | |
| Warnock said: “It’s almost an assault, how one of the four officials can’t be in a position to see that. Dawson had smashed him in the face and I am lost for words. He’s had a two- or three-yard run-up and smashed him in the face. No wonder Julián is a bit groggy. | |
| “I’ve had enough talking to the FA. I have not seen something like that since Bert Trautmann. I can’t say anything about the referee or I get fined and I don’t want to because I thought he had a cracking game but he had made two or three really bad mistakes.” | |
| Clattenburg also failed to give Palace a penalty when Wilfried Zaha appeared to be fouled by Dawson. Warnock said: “You can’t win, we had four or five surrounding the referee last week and we were told that was wrong. He had a good game but two, maybe three, decisions went against us and it’s cost us.” | |
| Clattenburg, widely regarded as England’s top referee since Howard Webb’s retirement, has had a career dogged by controversies, including the ordeal of being wrongly accused of racially abusing Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel, and an eight-month suspension following an investigation into his “private business affairs”. He was also cleared of wrongdoing last season when Southampton claimed he had “abused and insulted” Adam Lallana. |