- Clattenburg briefly held the role as head of Egypt’s refereeing committee
- He was accused of being gay and leaving his wife by a club president
- The Egyptian FA dismissed that there were safety fears when he left
Mark Clattenburg has opened up on leaving his role as head of Egypt’s refereeing committee after he was falsely accused of being gay.
The former Premier League referee took up the role in August 2022, where he was tasked with boosting the performance of officials in the country.
However, he left just five months later, after reportedly receiving threats from supporters – though the Egyptian FA said that safety fears were an ‘exaggeration’.
Clattenburg was heavily criticised by Mortada Mansour, the president of Zamalek Sporting Club, who among several baseless allegations claimed that he had left his wife Claire to start a gay relationship.
The 49-year-old has broken his silence on the matter on the Ben Heath podcast, in which he said there were a lot of things he found ‘difficult’ in Egypt.
Mark Clattenburg has broken his silence after he was accused of being gay in Egypt
Clattenburg left his role as head of Egypt’s refereeing committee back in January 2023
The president of Zamalek accused Clattenburg (right) of leaving his wife Claire (centre) and starting a gay relationship (the pair pictured at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2015)
‘There was a lot of difficulties in Egypt and also the financial crash of the dollar – when I was paid in dollars.
‘There was a lot of things that were difficult and then the president of Zamalek, made a statement that I was gay which was quite offensive in Egypt and quite disrespectful – especially when I’ve got a family.
‘But he knew that word is quite offensive in Egypt.’
When asked by Heath if the Zamalek president said it on purpose because of the reaction it would cause, Clattenburg responded: ‘Yeah and there was a lot of other things, I didn’t have my salary and I also found it difficult to live in Egypt.
‘Egyptian people are great, but when you’ve lived in Spain, Greece or England there are less restrictions (in those countries).
‘In Egypt it’s difficult to drive because they drive completely different to anywhere in Europe. You can’t go from A to B, you can’t go to a shopping mall, I was living in a hotel.
‘Especially with the salary I was on, I was unhappy, they were finding it difficult as clearly my salary was late, it was an easy decision and both parties came to an agreement.’
Clattenburg added that people didn’t ‘respect’ or ‘believe’ Mansour’s claims that he was gay, insisting that he made refereeing in the country ‘as fair as possible’.
The Egyptian FA confirmed his resignation in January 2023 but dismissed any safety concerns
In one TV appearance, Mansour also called out the Englishman, describing him as a ‘bribed man’ and suggesting he gave certain referees certain matches in order to ensure the matches finished early. The claims though were entirely baseless.
Although same-sex sexual activity is not explicitly criminalised in Egypt, LGBT people have been prosecuted on the charge of ‘debauchery’ in the past and there is little public acceptance of homosexuality.
At the time there had been reports that Clattenburg had not been paid two months of his £32,000 a month salary.
The Egyptian FA denied that his refereeing appointments had been changed, and claimed concerns over his safety were an ‘exaggeration’, labelling the country as the ‘safest in the world.’
Clattenburg held multiple roles abroad since stepping down as a Premier League referee in 2017.
He initially took over as head of refereeing in Saudi Arabia, a role previously held by fellow former Premier League official Howard Webb.
Clattenburg, pictured in September 2022 at a coaching course, was reportedly the subject of threats
He also worked in China and Greece, before taking up the position in Egypt.
This season, he briefly held a consultant role at Nottingham Forest – which he resigned from last month – while is also a referee on BBC show Gladiators.
