This Sunday marks the traditional beginning of the top flight of English football when Portsmouth battles Manchester United in the Community Shield Final at Wembley Stadium in London. If you’re like me, you’re excited about seeing the return of English football after being without it since the end of May.
But the biggest story in the press in the buildup to this Sunday’s match is not anything to do with United or Pompey. It’s referee Mark Clattenburg who has been dropped from the match in favor of Peter Walton.
Clattenburg has been suspended because the electrical company that he owns has gone bankrupt and owes debts of £60,000.
Not only will Clattenburg miss the Community Shield Final, but he’s also expected to miss being in charge on the pitch for the first few weeks of the Premier League season until the issue has been resolved.
Clattenburg will also not officiate in any other games until the issue has been resolved.
With Clattenburg having such large debts, the Professional Game Match Officials feel it’s not appropriate for the referee to be in charge of matches especially when there would be temptations for refs who are facing financial difficulties. I believe the FA and Professional Game Match Officials are making the correct decision.
Let’s hope that Sunday’s final is remembered for something special on the pitch rather than the issues off the pitch.
Are EPL refs part-timers? Looking at American sports, the officials in the NFL are weekend warriors, and the umpires in baseball are full time employees, and the latter are orders of magnitude better.
With the number of leagues in England and the money in football, you’d think that a full-time system where refs work their way to the top leagues from the bottom would be in place (is it?).
Yes.
The Premiership refs receive a retainer of £33,000 per season as well as £900 per game. Clattenburg took 26 Premiership matches last season, so topped his basic salary up by £23,400. Add on top of that European and Cup games , speaking engagements and sponsorship and he brought in a tidy packet last season so to see his company go under to the tune of a years salary strikes me as odd.
Looks very very interesting!
Thanks for letting us know about it.this why i love internet the power of sharing .I am in love with your blog
My best regards,
online card games