Mikel Obi has been hit with a three-match ban and fined £60,000 for his part in the Mark Clattenburg race row debacle.
The
Chelsea midfielder ran into the referee’s dressing room at the end of
Chelsea’s defeat against Manchester United in October and confronted him
over an alleged racial slur.
Mikel
had already admitted a charge that he confronted referee Mark
Clattenburg in the official’s changing room after the game before
Thursday’s personal hearing.
The suspension will take effect immediately and rule Mikel out of domestic duty until Boxing Day.
“Chelsea’s
John Obi Mikel has been given a three-match suspension to begin with
immediate effect and fined £60,000 following an Independent Regulatory
Commission hearing today (Thursday 6 December 2012),” an FA statement
read.
“Mikel
had requested a personal hearing after admitting an FA charge of using
threatening and/or abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour.
“The
breach of FA Rule E3 was in relation to an incident which occurred in
the match official’s changing room at the end of Chelsea’s fixture
against Manchester United on 28 October 2012.
A police investigation into the incident collapsed because of a lack of evidence and subsequently an FA probe met the same fate.
The
regulatory commission’s independent chairman, Christopher Quinlan QC,
said the findings showed at the time of the incident Mikel genuinely
believed the referee had racially abused him.
“But for that factor the suspension would have been significantly longer,” the FA said in a statement.
New
Chelsea boss Rafael Benitez might have been preparing for the bad news
by selecting Oriol Romeu ahead of Mikel on Tuesday night.
The Spaniard has started twice under his stewardship and is regaining match fitness after a long period of inactivity.
David
Luiz was also played in defensive midfield in the latter parts of the
Champions League match against Danish opponents Nordsjaelland.
Mikel
signed a new five-year contract at the club on Tuesday. The 25-year-old
midfielder committed his future to the European champions until 2017 —
which will see him complete a total of 11 years at Stamford Bridge.
Mikel,
who joined Chelsea in the summer of 2006 after controversially pulling
out of a move to Manchester United, said, “Chelsea seems like my home
now because I have been here for over six years and I enjoy my time
here.”
