Chelsea's John Obi Mikel not to appeal against ban for Clattenburg incident

John Obi Mikel has decided not to appeal against his three-match ban and £60,000 fine for threatening referee Mark Clattenburg in the stormy aftermath of Chelsea’s 3-2 defeat against Manchester United.

Chelsea are well aware that players have been suspended for much longer for serious abuse against an official and, following a personal hearing, there is a sense of relief that the Football Association’s regulatory commission accepted the mitigation that was put forward for Mikel’s behaviour.

Mikel had been told by Ramires, his team-mate, that Clattenburg had referred to him as a ‘monkey’ during the game, prompting the subsequent confrontation and threat in the referee’s office.

Clattenburg has since been cleared by both the police and the FA of the Ramires allegation but the commission did also believe that Mikel genuinely thought he had been racially abused when he made his threat.

But for that mitigating factor, Mikel’s ban would have been “significantly longer”.

Mikel admitted to the commission that he had used threatening, abusive, insulting words or behaviour in the official’s changing room at the end of the game and quickly decided on Thursday to accept his punishment.

It means he will miss the Premier League fixtures against Sunderland and Aston Villa, as well as the Capital One Cup quarter-final against Leeds United.

Mikel, who signed a new five-year contract with Chelsea on Wednesday, will still be available to play in the Club World Cup in Japan next week.

An FA statement reads: “The regulatory commission’s independent chairman, Christopher Quinlan QC, emphasised that the Independent Regulatory Commission accepted, as did the FA, that at the time he threatened the referee the player genuinely believed that the referee had racially abused him.

“But for that factor the suspension would have been significantly longer. Subsequently the FA investigated the allegation that the referee racially abused the player and found that there was not a case for him to answer.”

Mikel’s actions we’re wrong. You cannot abuse officials in the way that he did, and should have followed the rule-book on this one. We are lucky to get away with a three-match ban, and I hope this is the last we hear on the subject. Chelsea have some football to play…