Tottenham & West Ham Fans Unite Against Clattenburg!

Dear Mr Clattenburg,

Reference: The Rules of Association Football and the Duties of the Referee

In the light of recent performances by yourself, I would like to invite you, on behalf of fans of football the length and breadth of England, to answer fully the following questions.

1) Are you aware that the law relating to playing an advantage states: The referee allows play to continue when the team against which an offence has been committed will benefit from such an advantage and penalises the original offence if the anticipated advantage does not ensue at that time. Given no advantage materialised in the case of the Nani goal, would you please explain why the rule was not applied, namely that the original offence committed by Nani be duly penalised?

2) Are you also aware that provision is made to penalise the original offence “within a few seconds”. This gave you leeway to ensure that justice was applied. Would you therefore please explain why you chose to ignore this provision?

3) Are you also aware that application of the advantage rule should be determined by “the position where the offence was committed: the closer to the opponent’s goal, the more effective it can be”. Given the Nani offence was committed literally at the OPPOSITE end of the pitch, the case for advantage being played could not be weaker by this definition. Would you please explain, therefore, why you chose to apply the advantage rule and did not reverse your decision when an advantage clearly failed to accrue?

4) Are you also aware that the rule for the scoring of goals clearly states: A goal is scored when the whole of the ball passes over the goal line, between the goalposts and under the crossbar, provided that no infringement of the Laws of the Game has been committed previously by the team scoring the goal? Does handball by a Manchester United player at Old Trafford not constitute an infringement of the Laws of the Game? If it does, why was his goal allowed?

5) Are you also aware that the referee has a responsibility to show a yellow card for “unsporting behaviour” and when a player “acts in a manner showing a lack of respect for the game”? In the light of this, would you please explain why Nani was not booked for one of the attempt to win a penalty through deceit, a deliberate handball and for deliberately exploiting confusion arising from your failure to apply the rules of the game?

6) Would you also explain why Piquionne was booked for deliberate handball against Wolves, even though he did not handle the ball, and yet Nani was not cautioned, even though he did deliberately handle?

7) Having seen television replays of the Piquionne goal which you wrongly disallowed, would you please explain why you have not written to the FA / Premier League admitting to your error and retracting the yellow card?

8) Would you also please apologise to Mr Piquionne for wrongly accusing him of cheating and apologise to his employers, West Ham United Football Club, and the supporters of the team?

Failure to answer these questions and to issue the appropriate apologies will prove you to be, at the very best, incompetent and arrogant.

Yours sincerely,


Somebody With An Iota Of Common Sense!