Clattenburg not charged by FA - Mikel charged instead

[Buffalo Seagull]

Its not ramirez or mikel to blame. Its whoever made the decision to make a formal complaint i think.

So you think Chelsea should cover up allegations of racism?

 

[albionalex]

Ramires, who doesn't speak very good English, thought he heard Clattenburg call Mikel a 'monkey'. He had every right to report it and via the correct procedures Clattenburg has been proved innocent.

 

[smelly]

Clattenburg said "I don't gives monkey's Mikel" in traditional Geordie fashion.

Ramires heard this and went beserk.

Clatt gave explanation immediately to Chelsea and others.

No one at Chelsea thought to explain comments to Ramires or Mikel just jumped on band wagon blame ref first think later.

Latest in long line of one club showing shameless agenda driven behaviour.

Money cannot buy class

 

[T soprano]

Chelsea FC =
They really have become the most loathed club in the country

 

[Lower West Stander]

Have to say I do wonder if Chelsea would have made this allegation if they had won the game

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

4 match ban

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

So you think Chelsea should cover up allegations of racism?

Not at all.

BUT they should have made sure that there was a case to answer and internally investigate properly before going public. If they were so sure that there was a case of Rasism, why did they not go to the Police?

The FA clearly thought that there was NO case to answer, hense their statement today.

 

[Westdene Wonder]

It was noticeable that Mikel was continually approaching the ref and i wondered why he did not receive a yellow card,pleased that Clattenburg has been cleared but the F.A. took much too long.

 

[Brovion]

If Ramires honestly thought he heard something then he was perfectly right to report it, as were Chelsea to make the report to the FA. I haven't seen any evidence that contradicts this.
You can't create an atmosphere whereby players are too scared to report racism because they will face sanctions if the allegations can't be proved.

Totally agree. The only thing I'll add is: could Chelsea have done an internal investigation first before escalating the issue? A bit of investigation may have uncovered the context in which the word 'monkey' was used. It's quite a colloquial, idiomatic British expression and at least one of the many foreigners employed in senior positions by Chelsea (Bruce Buck, the Chairman) admitted to never having heard the expression "don't give a monkeys" before.

 

[catfish]

I wonder what that dick from the black lawyers association will have to say for himself now.

 

[drew]

If Ramires heard the words and they were never actually said, then why didn't Mikel step forward and say so. They are both to blame.

Mikel and Ramies are clearly responsible for this saga - a saga that could have ended in Clattenburg seeing his career ended. Let's be clear about that "career over."

Terry WAS found guilt of racist behaviour and yet you can be certain of this, his career was never going to be over. Million pound footballers don't seem to be scared of any form of punishment - the FA have no recourse with them at the moment.

If Mikel is guilty of witholding the truth (and that's an if as we don't know what Chelsea's management have been doing behind the scenes) then he should be banned for a season.

What! If Mikel didn't hear it then how can he deny whether or not it was said. Are you assuming that Mikel spent the whole time listening to every word uttered by Clattenburg, ignoring the noise of the crowd etc.

How long before the Black footie players association (who weren't slow in speaking out when this all kicked off) weigh in on this as some sort of cock up or conspiracy by the FA?

I certainly hope they speak out if Mikel is found 'guilty', but won't hold my breath.

What Black Footballers Association is that then. Didn't think one existed.

 

[drew]

duplicate post

 

[Ernest]

I wonder what that dick from the black lawyers association will have to say for himself now.

Who gives a monkeys ?

 

[Crawley 'Gull]

The idea that a premiership referee would racially abuse a player during a game is ridiculous. As for the black football players associations - I can already see it causing more problems than its solving!

 

[Buffalo Seagull]

Not at all.

BUT they should have made sure that there was a case to answer and internally investigate properly before going public. If they were so sure that there was a case of Rasism, why did they not go to the Police?

The FA clearly thought that there was NO case to answer, hense their statement today.

Firstly, it's not Chelsea's job to investigate it, merely to report the allegation. Secondly, the incident certainly couldn't have been investigated properly without Clattenberg himself being interviewed. And I'm sure you agree that it would be more proper for Clattenberg to be interviewed by the FA rather than Chelsea. Any investigation needs to be carried out by an impartial body.
Thirdly, with regards to your question as to why Chelsea didn't go to the police...surely not everything that could be regarded as against the law needs to be reported to and dealt with by the police does it? Especially when the matter is not considered at the serious end of the spectrum - yes we're talking about an allegation of racism, but at the end of the day the report centred on the use of one word, only said once. As an analogy, think about how many fights there are between kids in schoolyards around the country. Technically they're all incidents of assault and could be reported to the police. But schools have procedures and discipline measures in place to deal with the situations and the police don't need to be involved.

 

[Buffalo Seagull]

duplicate post

 

[Sussex on Leith]

Totally agree. The only thing I'll add is: could Chelsea have done an internal investigation first before escalating the issue? A bit of investigation may have uncovered the context in which the word 'monkey' was used. It's quite a colloquial, idiomatic British expression and at least one of the many foreigners employed in senior positions by Chelsea (Bruce Buck, the Chairman) admitted to never having heard the expression "don't give a monkeys" before.

This is the crux of it as far as I'm concerned.

I agree absolutely that this mustn't be allowed to put people off reporting racial abuse and Clattenburg's statement says as much. The FA statement also makes clear Ramires acted in good faith, and I'll be interested to see how Mikel's misconduct charge goes, given that it's for his behaviour towards Clattenburg after the game. Whatever he said, it was in the genuine (albeit mistaken) belief he'd been racially abused and that his team-mate had heard it. Not wise, and as it turned out not correct, but understandable in the circumstances.

But given the seriousness of the allegations, the Terry context, the emotions of the match itself (in which Clattenburg had a shocker), and the knowledge that this would become a huge news story, Chelsea's management handled this all wrong. They could have spoken to the players at greater length to establish the facts as they understood them, before deciding (in conjunction with the players) whether and how to pursue the complaint. Surely that's part of the club's duty of care to the players - to make sure they're not left exposed in public by what, in this case, was a simple case of something being lost in translation.

If, after the internal discussions, the players still wanted the complaints to be filed, then the club would have been correct (in fact duty bound) to do so. But I suspect it wouldn't have come to that if they'd paused for breath, asked other players what they heard and tried to establish exactly what was actually said.

The fact that the press were aware of the potential story is relevant but doesn't make Chelsea's actions correct. Many of the press would have been wary of saying anything publicly about this before the club said anything. If questioned directly, the club could have given a holding response - "aware of allegations, discussing with players, considering next steps" etc - which wouldn't have stopped Twitter rumours, but would have bought some time for all concerned for the facts to become clearer. By making the complaint official that evening, it meant it was open season for both traditional and social media, and that's what left the club so badly exposed as the case against Clattenburg unravelled.

 

[ewe2]

This affair has put the "Respect " programme back because now we have a white referee who will now want damages against this slur on his name.A very poor piece of judgement on Chelsea s part IMO.

 

[Dick Knights Mumm]

It's quite a colloquial, idiomatic British expression and at least one of the many foreigners employed in senior positions by Chelsea (Bruce Buck, the Chairman) admitted to never having heard the expression "don't give a monkeys" before.

Was that the expression that was used ? That is frankly hilarious. Laughable.

 

[Brovion]

Was that the expression that was used ? That is frankly hilarious. Laughable.

I'm not sure. I heard that that was the case, but the announcement today makes no mention of it. Don't treat as Gospel. The bit about Buck not knowing the expression is true though.