Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has revealed he came close to suicide after being wrongly accused of making a racist remark toward Chelsea’s Mikel John Obi in 2012.

 

 

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, Clattenburg, now 50, said the ordeal left him feeling trapped and desperate.

 

“The Obi Mikel situation affected me a lot and affected my family a lot,” he said. “That was the closest I’ve ever been to suicide. If I didn’t have a way out and I couldn’t referee anymore, what could I do? If I’m a racist, I’m not going to get a job in normal life. My life’s finished.”

Clattenburg said he only found the strength to carry on because of his infant daughter. “My child didn’t deserve it. She was only little. If I was on my own, single, that was the easiest decision in the world. But when you’ve got responsibilities, it makes you fight more.”

 

 

The referee recalled first learning of the allegation via a Sky Sports alert on his phone at Heathrow Airport.

 

“Then the phone calls started. I was about to board a flight to Newcastle. When I landed, my partner Claire was hysterical. Everyone thought I was guilty.”

 

Clattenburg was later cleared by both the Football Association and police. But the fallout, he said, nearly ended his life and career.

 

“If I wasn’t so strong-willed, I’m not sure I’d be here today. I wanted to quit football, but I couldn’t—I had a mortgage, a family to support. I was unemployable outside refereeing because I’d been out of my old industry too long.”

Despite the trauma, Clattenburg went on to officiate the Euro 2016 final and Champions League final, cementing his

place among the sport’s top referees.