By MARK IRWIN
FURIOUS Chelsea have sensationally accused referee Mark Clattenburg of verbally abusing their players.
The Blues made an official complaint to the Premier League following yesterday’s stormy home defeat by United, in which Fernando Torres was controversially sent off and Javier Hernandez scored an offside winner.
A club spokesman confirmed: “We have lodged a complaint to the Premier League match delegate regarding inappropriate language used by the referee towards two of our players in two separate incidents in today’s game.”
It is understood John Obi Mikel chased the FIFA-accredited referee after the final whistle to confront him.
Juan Mata is believed to be the other player involved.
Blues boss Roberto Di Matteo mentioned the allegations to Clattenburg when they were brought to his attention by the players after the match.
The confrontation came after Clattenburg, who refereed the Olympic final at Wembley, had sent off Chelsea stars Branislav Ivanovic and Torres.
Clattenburg and his three assistants were all wearing microphones and would have been able to hear all the comments made during the match.
The allegations came with Chelsea skipper John Terry watching from the stand as part of his four-match ban for using racist language towards QPR defender Anton Ferdinand a year ago.
Last night the Professional Games Match Officials board issued a statement on Clattenburg’s behalf.
It said: “PGMO is aware of the allegations and they are being treated with the utmost seriousness.
“Mark will cooperate fully and welcomes the opportunity for the facts to be established. No further comment will be made until this matter has been properly investigated.”
Di Matteo did not mention the allegations to the Press after the clash which saw United cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table to just one point.
But he was furious with Clattenburg’s decision to send off striker Torres for diving following a challenge by United defender Jonny Evans.
He said: “It’s quite obvious to everyone that Fernando’s second yellow was a foul by Evans and should have been a booking for their player — and that the decisive goal was offside.
“Alex Ferguson can say whatever he wants but it was a foul in our favour.
“Fernando put the ball between Evans’ legs and was through on goal. He was kicked on the shin and he went down.
“It’s a foul whatever you want to say and a booking for the other player and not ours.
“I’ve been in to see the ref and I’m sure he’s going to realise he’s made mistakes when he gets to watch the incidents again.
“We’re massively disappointed because the key decisions were wrong and they always seem to be in favour of our opponents.
“It’s a shame that a good game like this has to be decided in that manner. The game was ruined by the officials.
“The officials are under a lot of pressure and they have to be able to deal with that. The key decisions have to be right.
“We don’t want the officials to be a big influence on the result. Let the teams play each other and play football. That’s what everyone wants to watch.”
