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Referees union Prospect are to sue Chelsea on behalf of Mark Clattenburg after the club were shown to have wrongly accused the Premier League referee of racially abusing John Mikel Obi.
Alan Leighton, the national secretary of the union, insists the case is being pursued on two grounds, both that the allegation has affected Clattenburg's life and professional standing, and in order to deter any such claims being made public in the future.
Leighton was speaking to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, when he said: 'I don't know if we get an apology from Chelsea. I hope we will. It would be the classy thing to do, it would be the right thing to do more importantly.
'There needs to be a recognition that Mark’s reputation has been tarnished, been dragged through the m&d, his integrity has been impugned and it’s unfortunate that the Chelsea statement makes not a scintilla of recognition of the damage that has been done to Mark.
'Chelsea didn’t need to do what they did in the way that they did it. They could have kept the reporting of the incident confidential and they didn’t need to pursue it once they’d realised that the only evidence they had was the statement of Ramires when there was contradictory evidence.'
And Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has also offered his support.
The Scot said: 'I didn't believe it anyway. Everyone in the game is pleased for him now, apart from Chelsea.'
Alan Leighton, the national secretary of the union, insists the case is being pursued on two grounds, both that the allegation has affected Clattenburg's life and professional standing, and in order to deter any such claims being made public in the future.
Leighton was speaking to the Today programme on BBC Radio 4, when he said: 'I don't know if we get an apology from Chelsea. I hope we will. It would be the classy thing to do, it would be the right thing to do more importantly.
'There needs to be a recognition that Mark’s reputation has been tarnished, been dragged through the m&d, his integrity has been impugned and it’s unfortunate that the Chelsea statement makes not a scintilla of recognition of the damage that has been done to Mark.
'Chelsea didn’t need to do what they did in the way that they did it. They could have kept the reporting of the incident confidential and they didn’t need to pursue it once they’d realised that the only evidence they had was the statement of Ramires when there was contradictory evidence.'
And Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has also offered his support.
The Scot said: 'I didn't believe it anyway. Everyone in the game is pleased for him now, apart from Chelsea.'
