Mikel threatened to break Clattenburg’s legs

Former referee Mark Halsey has lifted the lid
on Mikel Obi infamous race row by claiming
the Chelsea midfielder yelled ‘I’m going to
break your legs’ at Mark Clattenburg.
In his autobiography ‘Added time: Surviving
cancer, death threats and the Premier League’,
serialised in The Sun on Sunday, Halsey also
backed up Neil Ashton’s story that Mikel had to
be restrained by the then Chelsea manager
Roberto Di Matteo.
He also alleges that the Blues star tried to
throw a punch at the official in a dressing
room bust-up after Chelsea had lost to
Manchester United on October 28 last year.
Halsey also claims that referees came close to
an all-out strike in protest at the lack of
support for Clattenburg.
He told The Sun on Sunday, “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”.
“He tried to land a punch on Mark but was
pulled away by a combination of the Di Matteo
and assistant Eddie Newton and Mark’s three
officials, fourth official Mike Jones and
assistants Mick McDonough and Simon Long.
“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.”
Halsey says he contacted Manchester United
boss Sir Alex Ferguson for help as he felt the
referees own body, the Select Group, had not
offered enough support.