And just when you think the racism row is about to blow over, a new, fresh and painfully damaging twist occurs in what appears to be a never ending suffering story for the game of football.
It remains unclear what occurred after Manchester United's controversial 3-2 victory over Chelsea, but the accused proceedings could not have come at a worse possible time for Kick It Out and most certainly Chelsea.
It's quite black and white for Clattenburg. Guilty, his career is over. Innocent, he lives to ref another game.
But it's the ramifications that will be put upon Chelsea at the end of this inevitable drawn out saga that are the most intriguing.
The European champions 'previous' does not exactly fill you with confidence. In April 2005 Anders Frisk was forced to retire after receiving death threats from Chelsea fans two weeks after he sent off Didier Drogba against Barcelona, this all after then boss Jose Mourinho and players heavily criticised the Swedish official.
In 2007, captain John Terry was fined £10,000 for a verbal tirade against referee Graham Poll, while in 2008, Ashley Cole turned his back on referee Mike Riley as he attempted to book him.
Four years later, Chelsea were fined £85,000 and Drogba and Jose Bosingwa were handed fines after referee Tom Henning Ovrebo turned away four penalty claims as they crashed out to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.
Finally, and most importantly, John Terry was recently found guilty of using abusive and insulting language against Anton Ferdinand, and admitting to using racial vocabulary.
It is therefore imperative for the club that they get this one right, and the fact they have been forced to withdraw the accusations against Clattenburg regarding remarks made about Juan Mata makes their case appear to be crumbling right in front of them and their already tarnished image set to be crumpled and dragged through the dirt once more.
Sour grapes? It appears increasingly likely, and with Clattenburg having being threatened to have his legs broken, this looks set to be a far more significant own goal that David Luis' for the Premier League leaders.
Surely though, Chelsea must have substantial evidence to prove Clattenburg's wrong doings. John Obi Mikel's case itself is confusing. Video evidence shows him stood right by John Terry as he hurled abuse at Ferdinand, yet, he was nowhere to be seen when it came to backing up his captain. Was this him turning a blind eye? Refusing to back up a man who he knows said something racist? Or his club refusing to let him leave his leader hanging high and dry?
Which ever stance you take, the fact that he remained anonymous raises questions over his standing on racism, rightly or wrongly.
Either way you look at it, the biggest loser in this is football. In what has been a turbulent period for the sport, this is the worst case scenario the FA in particular could ever imagine themselves in. Failing to condemn Clattenburg will undoubtedly lead to questioning on their stance against racism, while finding the man guilty and inevitably sacking him will rage outrage from the referees union on such contrasting punishments for Clattenburg in comparison to Terry and Luis Suarez.
It's a sorry state of affairs for the beautiful game, a game that is ever moving into a murky future.
It remains unclear what occurred after Manchester United's controversial 3-2 victory over Chelsea, but the accused proceedings could not have come at a worse possible time for Kick It Out and most certainly Chelsea.
It's quite black and white for Clattenburg. Guilty, his career is over. Innocent, he lives to ref another game.
But it's the ramifications that will be put upon Chelsea at the end of this inevitable drawn out saga that are the most intriguing.
The European champions 'previous' does not exactly fill you with confidence. In April 2005 Anders Frisk was forced to retire after receiving death threats from Chelsea fans two weeks after he sent off Didier Drogba against Barcelona, this all after then boss Jose Mourinho and players heavily criticised the Swedish official.In 2007, captain John Terry was fined £10,000 for a verbal tirade against referee Graham Poll, while in 2008, Ashley Cole turned his back on referee Mike Riley as he attempted to book him.
Four years later, Chelsea were fined £85,000 and Drogba and Jose Bosingwa were handed fines after referee Tom Henning Ovrebo turned away four penalty claims as they crashed out to Barcelona in the Champions League semi-final.
Finally, and most importantly, John Terry was recently found guilty of using abusive and insulting language against Anton Ferdinand, and admitting to using racial vocabulary.
It is therefore imperative for the club that they get this one right, and the fact they have been forced to withdraw the accusations against Clattenburg regarding remarks made about Juan Mata makes their case appear to be crumbling right in front of them and their already tarnished image set to be crumpled and dragged through the dirt once more.
Sour grapes? It appears increasingly likely, and with Clattenburg having being threatened to have his legs broken, this looks set to be a far more significant own goal that David Luis' for the Premier League leaders.
Surely though, Chelsea must have substantial evidence to prove Clattenburg's wrong doings. John Obi Mikel's case itself is confusing. Video evidence shows him stood right by John Terry as he hurled abuse at Ferdinand, yet, he was nowhere to be seen when it came to backing up his captain. Was this him turning a blind eye? Refusing to back up a man who he knows said something racist? Or his club refusing to let him leave his leader hanging high and dry?
Which ever stance you take, the fact that he remained anonymous raises questions over his standing on racism, rightly or wrongly.
Either way you look at it, the biggest loser in this is football. In what has been a turbulent period for the sport, this is the worst case scenario the FA in particular could ever imagine themselves in. Failing to condemn Clattenburg will undoubtedly lead to questioning on their stance against racism, while finding the man guilty and inevitably sacking him will rage outrage from the referees union on such contrasting punishments for Clattenburg in comparison to Terry and Luis Suarez.
It's a sorry state of affairs for the beautiful game, a game that is ever moving into a murky future.
