Clattenburg Reveals He Was Accused Of Match Fixing After Buying A New Car

Clattenburg is widely regarded as one of the best referees to have emerged from England in recent seasons and spent 13 years as a Premier League referee.

The 46-year-old’s journey as a knight of the whistle saw him take charge of the 2016 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, 2016 FA Cup final game between Manchester United and Crystal Palace and the EURO 2016 final between France and Portugal.

Clattenburg has revealed in his upcoming autobiography, Whistle Blower, how a colleague sounded him out for investigation to the refereeing hierarchy but saw the charges dropped after he was found to be clean.

Clattenburg wrote: ‘He (unnamed official) suspected me of match-fixing. Why did he think that? Because I had just bought an Audi R8 sports car. He had a hunch, apparently. Angry does not come close to describing how I felt.

‘I was still called into a few meetings and asked to explain why I had met a certain individual in Dubai. This fella was a “fixer”, but not a bloody match-fixer! He could get you discounts on water parks and restaurants. It was ridiculous what they were insinuating.

‘I can honestly say, I have never been approached about match-fixing. English officials are regarded as clean the world over.’

‘It is a strange game, refereeing,’ he added. ‘We are largely unpopular to the outside world and plagued by in-fighting and bitching on the inside. I would argue I was close to the good guys, the normal ones. As for the rest of them? They were a bunch of weirdos half the time.’