John Obi Mikel threatened to 'break Mark Clattenburg's legs'

By Kristian Johnson, Reporter
Published: 15 September 2013 5:59 PM

Mark Halsey reveals in his autobiography that Jon Obi Mikel threatened to 'break Mark Clattenburg's legs' after wrongly accusing the referee of racial abuse.

Chelsea midfielder Jon Obi Mikel threatened to 'break Mark Clattenburg's legs' after accusing the referee of racial abuse, according to Mark Halsey.

Mikel told the FA that he had been racially abused by referee Clattenburg in last October's clash against Manchester United, but the 38-year-old official was later cleared of all charges.

Halsey, who retired from refereeing duties at the end of last season after battling leukaemia, has revealed that Mikel stormed into the changing rooms immediately after the match and made the threat to Clattenburg.

"My information was that Mikel stormed into Mark's dressing room when he was told about the remark after the game, shouting: 'I'm going to break your legs. You called me a f****** monkey'," The Sun quotes Halsey as writing in his autobiography.

"He tried to land a punch on Mark but was pulled away by a combination of [Roberto] Di Matteo and assistant Eddie Newton and Mark's three officials.

"Even before Mark had left Stamford Bridge that night, the press were knocking on the door of his home. The problem was that he could say nothing in his defence as part of legal advice and clauses in our contracts."

Mikel was banned for three games and fined £60,000 for his outburst, while Clattenburg returned to refereeing duties four weeks after the incident.