Mark Clattenburg, the well-known 45-year-old English ex-referee and a fond memory for Atléticos among others, has been hired by the Greek Super League as its chief referee. The Briton has signed a two-year commitment and is already in his new position. It is a shock measure to improve the level of refereeing and, above all, remove it from the risk of influence exerted by Greek clubs on the braids, both in the field and in the VAR. It is actually a new attempt, since Clattenburg succeeds Portuguese Vítor Manuel Melo Pereira, who was fired. The foreign presence in Greek arbitration is already a common solution, in fact, many referees from other countries are called to direct important matches of the Hellenic Super League. But the controversies do not stop and neither do the accusations. Almost every day in Greece was marked by the complaints of some and others. The VAR has not been a solution either.
Thus, the federation decided to appeal to a big name that, in collaboration with UEFA, would carry out a quasi-cleaning operation. Mark Clattenburg, the British collegiate, was called in to entrust him with the mission of straightening the level of his collective and away from the influences of the greats. Change it upside down, actually. Clattenburg has implemented new features to shed light on the controversies. Thus, each day it publishes a video with comments on the decisions made by the VAR in each game, even listening to the comments live. However, despite the fact that his appointment had the approval of the Group of 4, the big four of Greek football, his management has been answered at the first opportunity. Olympiacos has been the first to publicly complain about his management. Clattenburg is already feeling the pressure. The Briton, who hung up the whistle in July, brings a bad memory to the mattress fans for his work during the 2016 Champions League final between Atlético and Real Madrid. At a quarter of an hour, he gave as valid a goal from Ramos, which the slowed-down image shows that he was in an advanced position by centimeters.
“In that final, Real Madrid went 1-0 in the first half, but the goal was offside for very little. We realized it at half-time. It was a difficult action and my assistant failed,” he declared a few weeks ago Clattenburg to the 'Daily Mail'. The referee stated that if he had the VAR at his disposal, he would not have erred in that decision. That final went to penalties and Real Madrid were crowned champions. It was not the only time that Clattenburg found himself at the center of controversy. Now, he must fight her.