Ex-EPL Referee Mark Clattenburg Lists Mikel Obi Among Most Annoying Players

Former Premier League referee, Mark Clattenburg, has named John Mikel Obi among the five most annoying players he has refereed during his career.

Others on the list include former Wales striker, Craig Bellamy; ex-Manchester United captain Roy Keane; former Arsenal goalkeeper, Jens Lehmann and Portugal defender, Pepe.

Clattenburg is regarded as one of the best referees of his generation and officiated the 2016 European Championship, Champions League and FA Cup finals among others.

In an interview with the Daily Mail, the 45-year-old opened up about some of the challenges he faced during his 13 years as a referee.

Speaking about Mikel Obi, who played for Chelsea in the Premier League, Clattenburg said: “I have picked Mikel because of the incident during a Chelsea v Manchester United match in 2012 when he accused me of making a racist comment, which was not right and I was later cleared by the FA.

“He has never apologised and that is disappointing because it could have ruined my life. I fell out of love with refereeing for a while after that but couldn’t quit because I had a family to support and no other career to pursue.

“Mikel only heard the allegation from his team-mate Ramires, who did not speak English. Other Chelsea players have since apologised but nothing from Mikel.”