P
remier League referee Mark Clattenburg made the decision to quit mid-season for a lucrative deal with the Saudi Arabia Football Federation after years of frustration and feuds with the major refereeing authorities in English football.
Clattenburg has negotiated a break with the English referees’ body, Professional Game Match Officials Limited, which allows him to leave immediately, even though his departure will leave the select group without the man regarded as their best referee, albeit a man who has divided opinion.
Clattenburg, 41, had differences with PGMOL general manager Mike Riley, especially over the Ref360 assessment system which has proved so unpopular with the country’s leading referees. However, it was with the Football Association, and its referees’ chairman, David Elleray, with whom there was the most tension.
It is understood that Elleray did not want Clattenburg to referee the 2014 Super Cup final between Real Madrid and Sevilla in Cardiff, and told Uefa so, but was overruled by Pierluigi Collina, the former Italian referee who is Uefa’s chief refereeing officer.
It is the case that Elleray wanted Martin Atkinson to be England’s referee representative at Euro 2016. In the end a compromise was reached and both Atkinson and Clattenburg officiated at the tournament.
However, the FA denies that Elleray did not want Clattenburg allocated to the Super Cup final in 2014.
Elleray is the FA official who handles international refereeing appointments. Collina has regarded Clattenburg as the best of the English referees since Howard Webb’s retirement and it was the Italian that ensured Clattenburg got the Champions League and European Championship final last year. It was only after he was appointed to the former that the FA hastily made sure he was also given the FA Cup final.
Clattenburg’s decision to leave is also financially motivated with his annual salary in Saudi Arabia estimated to be between £300,000 and £500,000. He would be able to earn around £200,000 currently with a £97,000 basic package as a select group referee plus bonuses and around another £100,000 earned through Uefa games.
PGMOL has always prevented its top referees from taking well-paid one-off games, while other European referees are permitted by their national associations effectively to freelance. Howard Webb, who was the previous head of referees in Saudi Arabia, had a budget to appoint a top European referee to the game of the week in the Jameel League.
There are only 14 teams in the Saudi top flight and it is expected that as well and coaching and developing referees, Clattenburg will also take charge of a game himself every week. He was first approached over the job in December when he was named the best referee in the world at the Globe Soccer awards in Dubai.
Leaving the Premier League means that Clattenburg will forfeit his place as the leading contender to be the English referee at the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia.
It would be difficult for him to take the place on offer from Saudi referees, even though he will be officiating in that league, with native referee Fahad Al Mirdasi already on the shortlist having taken charge of the Under-20s World Cup final in 2015.
Clattenburg gave a brief press conference in Saudi on Thursday in which he said he was “humbled” by the opportunity and had a “passion for improving referees and education”. PGMOL said that he had “set standards for others to follow” and had been a “great asset” to the English game.”