Mark Clattenburg, Ed Sheeran And Neil Warnock In Premier League Football Cheating Scandal As EPL Rules Are Broken

Mark Clattenburg is considered by many the best referee the Premier League has to offer, but he might just be in big trouble. The top-flight official has received a weekend ban after breaking two huge rules. He held a private phone chat with Crystal Palace boss Neil Warnock, and he also ditched his fellow officials to go to an Ed Sheeran gig. Now, Ed may be one of the best artists in the world, but can the EPL excuse their top official for breaching two important rules — all for an Ed gig?

The EPL referee rules state that officials can only talk to managers while their fellow professionals are present, but Mark had a private phone chat after a Palace game, suggesting the pair had private matters to discuss, raising the question: Are they cheating?

He also left the grounds alone to drive to an Ed gig, but the officials must travel to and from games together in order to keep themselves safe and ensure no rules are broken.

Will he be forgiven? Perhaps if it was one rule, but it is hard to see the EPL doing anything other than making an example out of Clattenburg. Many have questioned referee bias in the past, and such events will only raise further questioning over the situation. Perhaps these were innocent rule breaks, but the breaking of two rules suggests he believes he is above the rules, which the EPL will want to quickly fix.

One thing's for sure: Mark won't be refereeing Palace games anytime soon.