Mark Clattenburg, who
refereed the top games in world soccer in 2016, suddenly quit the English
Premier League on Thursday for a job in Saudi Arabia.
Clattenburg
will replace Howard
Webb as head of referees
for the Saudis after the 2010 World Cup final referee was hired by Major League
Soccer to lead the development of video technology for on-field officials.
Clattenburg,
who first revealed his plans to leave England in a recent interview with The
Associated Press, is set to combine refereeing games with his new off-field
responsibilities in the Middle East.
"We
decided to bring the best referee in the world," Saudi Football Federation
President Adel Ezzat said on Thursday. "His job is the evaluation of
referees, but at the same time he will have some matches to referee, between
three to four matches a month."
Ezzat said
the 41-year-old Clattenburg will take charge of the Champions League game
between Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain next month, but it is unclear if he
will remain on the UEFA and FIFA lists. He was in contention for the 2018 World
Cup in Russia.
"At
the moment FIFA is waiting for some more information about the future of Mark
Clattenburg," the global governing body told The AP.
Clattenburg,
whose departure date from the Premier League is yet to be announced, recently
made the highly unusually step of publicly stating his desire for a job abroad.
"Money
has never been a driver as a referee," Clattenburg told the AP in December.
"It's about the drive of doing something different, maybe helping the
recruitment ... a bit like Howard Webb has done (in Saudi Arabia) where you are
helping another country develop refereeing."
Clattenburg
refereed the finals of the European Championship, Champions League and FA Cup
last year.
Professional
Game Match Officials, the organization which provides and trains officials for
the English leagues, said Clattenburg had been "setting standards for
others to follow."
"Mark
is a talented referee, he has been a great asset to the English game, and
hopefully an inspiration to those who want to get into refereeing at the grass
roots of the game," the PGMO said. "We understand this is an exciting
opportunity for Mark as well as further underlining what high esteem English
match officials are held throughout the world game."
Clattenburg
has been a FIFA referee since 2006 and was in charge of the Olympic men's
soccer final at the London Games in 2012
Culled from USA Today
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