Referee Mark Clattenburg has been cleared of an alleged racist comment against Chelsea's John Obi Mikel.

"The FA encourages all players who believe they have been either subject, or witness to, discriminatory abuse to report the matter immediately to the match officials on the day. Furthermore, all participants are advised to report any such alleged misconduct to The FA. In this case, the player and club were correct in reporting the matter to The FA and it was appropriate and proper for such an allegation to be thoroughly investigated." The Metropolitan Police had begun investigating the alleged comments towards Chelsea's Mikel and Spanish team-mate Juan Mata, but soon dropped the case because of insufficient evidence. This action led to Peter Herbert, chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers, accusing the FA of being "institutionally racist" for not doing enough to investigate the complaint.