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Former Premier League referee Mark Halsey has shed light onto the controversial incident that saw Mark Clattenburg accused of racially abusing Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel.

In his forthcoming autobiography, Added Time: Surviving Cancer, Death Threats and the Premier League, serialised in The Sun on Sunday, Halsey reveals that the Nigerian midfielder attempted to punch Clattenburg following a stormy Premier League game against Manchester United.

"My information was that Mikel stormed into Mark's dressing room when he was told about the remark after the game, shouting 'I'm going to break your legs. You called me a f**king monkey.'

"He tried to land a punch on Mark," adds Halsey, "but was pulled away by a combination of then Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo and assistant Eddie Newton and Mark's three fellow officials."

The 52-year-old also admitted that Premier League referees came to the brink of strike action after Mikel was only banned for three games following the incident.

"We were all unhappy that Mikel's behaviour had not been made public," writes Halsey. "We wanted a proper apology. We were all, as a group of referees, speaking on the phone regularly... the mood was for a strike."