Mark Clattenburg, a former Premier League referee, leaves Egypt and his £32,000-a-month job after a team’s president alleged he was in a gay relationship and threats from supporters made him fearful for his safety.
Mark Clattenburg, the chairman of Egypt’s referees committee, has resigned due to safety concerns after allegedly receiving threats from a group of fans and verbal abuse from club executives.
The former Premier League official assumed the position in August of last year, and his responsibility was to improve the performance of Egyptian officials.
Mortada Mansour, the president of Zamalek Sporting Club, the 14-time champion of the Egyptian Premier League, has harshly criticized Clattenburg.
Clattenburg’s resignation was confirmed by the Egyptian FA, but any safety concerns were downplayed.
According to The Sun, Mansour criticized Clattenburg’s position in Egyptian football. In a TV interview, Mansour accused the Englishman of being corrupt while serving in a comparable position in Saudi Arabia, calling him a “bribed man” who offered specific referees matches so that the games would end sooner. The allegations are wholly unfounded.
It has been falsely asserted that he left his wife to begin a gay romance.
Zamalek Sporting Club president Mortada Mansour criticized Clattenburg on television.
Although same-sex relationships are not expressly forbidden in Egypt, homosexuality is not widely accepted by the general public, and LGBT people have occasionally faced legal troubles for ‘debauchery’.Although same-sex relationships are not expressly forbidden in Egypt, homosexuality is not widely accepted by the general public, and LGBT people have occasionally faced legal troubles for ‘debauchery’.
The allegations of corruption against Clattenburg have prompted Khaled Abu Bakr, a well-known Egyptian cleric, to demand immediate government action and issue a dire warning to the country’s international sporting reputation.
Additionally, the 47-year-old reportedly received threats from Zamalek supporters, which led to his resignation.
In addition, Clattenburg worried that the league was altering the referees it assigned him, and he had trouble getting foreign officials to come to the country to monitor important games.
Two months’ worth of the former referee’s £32,000 monthly remuneration allegedly went unpaid.
Although Clattenburg has resigned from his position, the Egyptian Football Association says his resignation has not yet been officially accepted.
The head of the Egyptian Football Association’s referees committee, Mark Clattenburg of England, resigned from his position on Tuesday evening, according to a statement.
The Board of Directors of the Egyptian Football Association will vote on Clattenburg’s resignation at an emergency meeting on Wednesday.
According to the Egyptian publication Al-Ahram, Clattenburg’s resignation’surprise’ the Egyptian FA.
The organization stated it would “welcome his return” and disputed that refereeing appointments had been modified.
The FA added that worries over his safety were “an exaggeration” and that the nation was the “safest in the world.”
Since leaving his position as a Premier League referee in 2017, Clattenburg has held a number of positions abroad.
He first replaced fellow former Premier League official Howard Webb in the position of head of refereeing in Saudi Arabia.
After working in China and Greece, Clattenburg accepted the position in Egypt.
The fact that the former referee presided over the 2016 Champions League and European Championship finals demonstrated his reputation as one of Europe’s best referees during his tenure.
With two tattoos, Clattenburg honored his accomplishments, including the engraving of the Champions League trophy and the phrases Final Milano 2016 on his left wrist.