Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has found himself in a spot of bother (again) after the FA look set to discipline him for running off to an Ed Sheeran concert on the weekend.
The crime, it would seem, is not that he went to the concert (that song 'Lego House' isn't bad, to be fair) but rather that he spoke to manager Neil Warnock Harry Redknapp-style (aka hanging out the window of his car) after the game, and now the FA have dropped him from this weekend's list of fixtures as a result.
Clattenburg was apparently in breach of Premier League rules when he traveled alone in his car (the regulations state that referees must travel with their assistants, over concerns that their integrity and safety could be compromised) and spoke to Warnock alone, again when his assistants should have been present.
Warnock was questioning the referee over the fact that his player Wilfried Zaha was denied a penalty and about a challenge that injured his goalkeeper, Julian Speroni, who had to be subbed off. Clattenburg however, was rushing off because he wanted to catch Ed Sheeran in concert at the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle, and had a drive ahead of him to get there from West Brom's ground.
Clattenburg will be taken out of the line up for Premier League games on the weekend, and may face a further sanction for his actions, but no matter the ban, he'll certainly be getting stick from the players if he gets back on the field with a whistle in his mouth in the next few weeks.
Via The Independent
