Former Premier League referee Martin Clattenburg has made some sensational claims about the clash between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, which ended the latter’s Premier League title hopes in the 2015-16 campaign.
The County Durham-born match official was the man in the middle for the fiery 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Two mass melees broke out during the match, and one of the brawls resulted in then-Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink getting knocked to the floor.
Tempers began to flare shortly after Tottenham let their 2-0 lead slip, and despite the ferociousness of the game, not one player was sent off by Clattenburg.
Instead, the referee issued 12 yellow cards, nine of which were brandished to Spurs players.
As everyone knows, it is imperative for referees to be partial, but Clattenburg has suggested that he purposefully did not send off any Tottenham players because he wanted the football world to see the team “self-destruct”.
The referee, who left the Premier League in February, spoke candidly about the match during a podcast with NBC’s Men In Blazers.
“I allowed them [Spurs] to self-destruct so all the media, all the people in the world went: ‘Tottenham lost the title.’ If I sent three players off from Tottenham, what are the headlines? ‘Clattenburg cost Tottenham the title.’ It was pure theatre that Tottenham self-destructed against Chelsea and Leicester won the title.
“I helped the game. I certainly benefited the game by my style of refereeing. Some referees would have played by the book; Tottenham would have been down to seven or eight players and probably lost and they would’ve been looking for an excuse. But I didn’t give them an excuse, because my gameplan was: Let them lose the title.”
It is fair to say that Tottenham have had their say on the claims.
