Former English Premier League referee, Mark Clattenburg has revealed that he was close to committing suicide after former Super Eagles star, Mikel Obi accused him of racist comments during a game. 

In October 2012, the Premier League was hit with a big controversy, after Chelsea lodged a complaint about Clattenburg, one of the highly-rated officials, for saying racist statements to Mikel.

At the time, former Chelsea player Ramires said he heard Clattenburg say to Mikel, “shut up you monkey” during a 3-2 loss to their close rivals Manchester United. And that was what prompted the move.

But after a series of investigations, Clattenburg was cleared of any wrongdoings and allowed to return to officiating in the league after almost two weeks.

According to a statement issued by the English FA, per USA Today, Mikel himself did not hear the comment, neither did any play around them at the time. Rather, it was only Ramires that heard it.

If Clattenburg had been found guilty, his career would likely have ended. Nonetheless, he bounced back from the problem, and went on to officiate the Euro 2016 final and the Champions League final.

The 50-year-old referee stopped officiating in the Premier League since 2017, as he left for a role in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, in a recent interview, the Englishman spoke about the issue with Mikel. He revealed that it was a critical point in his life, and he even contemplated taking his life.

“The Obi Mikel situation affected me a lot and affected my family a lot,” Clattenburg told Daily Mail.

“I think that was the closest I’ve ever been to, a, suicide and, b, finishing. If I didn’t have a way out and I couldn’t referee any more, what can I do?

“I remember my mobile phone, everybody gets the notifications, and it was a Sky Sports notification [saying] ‘Mark Clattenburg accused of racial discrimination against two Chelsea players’. And I had a new born, she was only six months old.

“It was the worst 12 hours. I remember not sleeping. I didn’t go to bed. I was soul searching because I didn’t know what I had said, so I’m trying to work out if I had said something in the heat of the moment. That was the hardest thing, thinking I had done it.

Mikel left Chelsea five years after that incident, ending his 11-year stay at the club. He won multiple trophies with the club, including the Premier League and the FA Cup.