Mark Clattenburg, a former Premier League official, was compelled to leave Egypt after receiving threats from supporters in response to criticism from a club president.
From 2004 to 2017, Clattenburg officiated in England’s top division and was regarded as the best official of his generation in the Premier League and throughout Europe.
He was only the second official to officiate the Champions League and European Championship finals in the same season when he did so in 2016.
As a result, he got the Champions League trophy tattooed on his wrist. You’d typically expect a player to do this, but why not? He had just as much success in his career as the other players.
He relocated to Saudi Arabia in 2017 to succeed fellow Englishman Howard Webb as the country’s head of refereeing, and since then, he has held a variety of positions.
Most recently he has been in charge of Egyptian referees but, according to reports, he has now left the country after criticism from Zamalek president Mortada Mansour.
According to the Sun, Mansour questioned the referees sexuality, falsely claiming the 47-year-old left his wife to start a relationship with a man.
The claims are said to have led to threats from fans of the club and led the former referee to fear for his life in the country, leading him to leave.
There were more issues for the Durham born official to battle with as well, as he was having issues persuading referees from abroad to come in for big games, as is the norm in Egypt.
Having started his £32,000-a-month job in August, Clattenburg has reportedly not been paid in the past two months either, adding to his problems in the new role.
Egyptian outlet Ahram Online, also say that he had arguments with officials in the Egyptian Football Association, and they still need to ratify his resignation.
On his arrival in the Middle East last summer, the former Premier League ref said, “My target is to have an Egyptian referee in the World Cup. It is difficult to evaluate the performance of the Egyptian referees as I am not here for a long time.”
Previously, Clattenburg has admitted that ahead of the Euros in France in 2016, when he eventually reffed the final, he’d wanted England knocked out early.
He admitted that as a big fan of the national team he didn’t enjoy not wanting them to win but realised his best chances of taking charge of games late in the competition was Roy Hodgson’s side being knocked out early.