John Mikel Obi charged
by George Akpayen 23 November 2012, 05:52
Nigeria international, John Mikel Obi, has been slammed with a charge of misconduct by the English FA for an alleged breach of the game's rule.
The charge against Mikel is "in relation to his side’s game against Manchester United on 28 October 2012," according to a statement on the official website of The FA.
"Chelsea’s John Obi Mikel has been charged by The FA for an alleged breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to his side’s game against Manchester United on 28 October 2012.
"It is alleged that in or around the Match Officials’ changing room at the end of the fixture, Mikel used threatening and/or abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour," the statement read.
However, Mikel has not deny the charge as he now wants a personal hearing to explain the circumstances surrounding the matter.
The FA has given the Chelsea midfield enforcer until "November 30 to respond to the charge."
Also, The FA has also cleared referee Mark Clattenburg of any wrongdoing in the alleged race row with Mikel that sparked off bad blood.
"The FA has concluded its investigation into alleged misconduct by Mark Clattenburg during the match between Chelsea FC and Manchester United FC on Sunday 28 October 2012. No disciplinary action will follow against Mr Clattenburg," an FA statement revealed on Thursday.
Chelsea had reported Clattenburg to the match delegate that he abused two of their players including Mikel.
But the European champions were reported in The FA statement to have dropped the allegation to just one player being Mikel on October 31.
"On Wednesday 31 October Chelsea FC contacted The FA and confirmed that the club had conducted an internal enquiry and that they did wish to proceed with a formal complaint in relation to one of the allegations of abuse. The club did not wish to proceed in relation to the other allegation. The club provided witness statements from two players, Ramires Santos do Nascimento (“Ramires”) and John Obi Mikel," said The FA.
The FA later requested Chelsea submit their internal inquest on the issue.
Subsequently, Ramires and Mikel were interviewed by The FA on November 5 "using the TV match footage obtained by The FA."
Chelsea later provided "unbroadcast video footage of the game from static cameras" which The FA showed Ramires when he was re-interviewed on November 15.
The FA also revealed that its findings showed that Ramires' first language is not English and that Mikel "was much closer to the referee than Ramires and did not hear what it is suggested was said to him."
The three other match officials, who were also witnesses in the case, said Clattenburg did not utter the "alleged words" via their communication gadgets.
