Friday 7 December 2012

John Mikel Obi banned

Just yesterday, he extended his contract with Chelsea for the next 5 years, and last night, Chelsea's John Mikel Obi was given a three-match ban and fined £60,000 by the Football Association for threatening referee Mark Clattenburg.
Mikel admitted an FA charge following an incident in the match officials' changing room after Chelsea's defeat by Manchester United on the 28th of October.
The FA accepted the player had believed the referee had racially abused him.
However, the union Prospect, which represents referees, said it was "dismayed" at the "lenient" punishment.
In a personal hearing on Thursday the FA's Independent Regulatory Commission accepted the Nigerian midfielder's explanation.
Mikel Obi and Mark Clatternburg during the Man Utd vs Chelsea game.

"But for that factor the suspension would have been significantly longer," the FA said in a statement.
Prospect national secretary Alan Leighton claimed "far too much weight" had been given to Mikel's mitigating circumstances.
A Prospect statement added: "It is vital that officials were given real respect and this decision regrettably gave entirely the wrong message. A player in parks football found guilty of behavior like Mikel's would have faced a long-term ban."
The FA investigated the allegation against Clattenburg which prompted Mikel's behavior and found that there was no case to answer.
The police also dropped their inquiry into the allegations that Clattenburg had racially abused Mikel.
Mikel's team-mate Ramires had made the allegation and Chelsea later said they regretted the way the matter was handled.
Clattenburg missed four weekends of premier league action while the FA investigated Chelsea's complaint.