Mark Clattenburg admits he ‘got it wrong’ over reaction to Vinicius Jr racism allegations
Mark Clattenburg issues statement amid backlash from Vinicius Jr comments
- Ex-referee Mark Clattenburg has released a statement following criticism of his on-air reaction to an incident in which Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr was allegedly racially abused by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni on Tuesday.
- The alleged incident occurred after the Brazilian opened the scoring the Champions League clash. After reporting it to the referee, Vinicius Jr and his Real Madrid teammates walked off the pitch and referee Francois Letexier applied Uefa’s three-step protocol.
- Speaking on the situation as part of the commentary for Amazon Prime, Clattenburg said: "Yes, he scored a wonderful goal, but he should have just returned over to the other side of the pitch and he could have got on with the game. Vinicius Jr. has not helped himself. He’s made this difficult for the referee. He’s scored a wonderful goal and all he has to do – yes, celebrate – is return back. But he has made this situation very, very difficult." His comments were widely condemned.
- In a statement released on his LinkedIn on Wednesday, Clattenburg said: "Nothing justifies racism in sport or in life. I'm grateful to have a chance to follow-up on last night. I got it wrong, I'm sorry. It was live TV, my job is to respond to the moment and the words I used were clumsy and not right. I'm already learning from this and appreciate my colleagues who covered the situation with class throughout."
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