FA drop Clattenburg investigation to complete tumultuous 48 hours for Chelsea

Yesterday West London outfit Chelsea were branded a joke because of the dismissal of double-winning manager Roberto Di Matteo, and then replacing him with Rafael Benitez, a man despised by many Blues fans.

Today they have been condemned by many after the FA dropped their investigation into allegations that referee Mark Clattenburg abused two Chelsea players during the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United last month.

Chelsea midfielder Ramires will come under scrutiny as a result of the statement released by the FA about the incident. It is clear that it was the Brazilian, not John Obi Mikel as many first thought, that made the accusation. It is the latest chapter of an ongoing racism saga that has blighted the Premier League over the last 12 months.

                                    Recent racism problems in Premier League football:

October 2011	Chelsea captain John Terry is first accused via Youtube by an anonymous spectator of abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.
December 2011	Liverpool forward Luis Suarez is handed eight match ban for calling Manchester United defender Patrice Evra ‘negro’ seven times in two minutes.
October 2012	John Terry handed four match ban for saying ‘f***ing black c**t’ to Ferdinand, having also been stripped of the England captaincy.
October 2012	Several black Premier League players refuse to endorse a ‘Kick It Out’ campaign by not wearing promotional T-shirts.
October 2012	Referee Mark Clattenburg accused of abusing two Chelsea players during match against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.
Novermber 2012	The FA clear Clattenburg of any wrongdoing and investigation is dropped.

The FA said in their statement: "Equally The FA is satisfied that the allegation against Mark Clattenburg by Ramires was made in good faith. It is entirely possible for a witness to be genuinely mistaken and convincing in his belief."

Although it appears that Ramires did make the allegation for the right reasons, there will be many people who feel that players and people within football are far too quick to point the finger at others. Ramires' first language is not English, and what he heard was clearly a mistake as no other player, not even Mikel, heard the apparent words 'shut up you monkey' uttered by Clattenburg. All the other match officials were wearing headpieces connected to the referee and they all vehemently denied the allegations. 

Although Ramires must have thought he heard something, he should have confided in other players and the match officials before making such outrageous accusations. 

Once again this is poor press for Chelsea as their troubled week continues. Rafael Benitez's job seems to be getting harder and harder with every couple of hours and a win on Sunday against Manchester City is now paramount. With this article being written just minutes before Benitez's first press conference it has become obvious that he is going to have even more tricky questions to face than he would have first expected, indeed, if he does not speak about milk again than it may be seen as a success.

On the other hand this is exactly what the FA needed and Clattenburg will most likely be returned to refereeing duties this weekend after four weeks on the sidelines.