Mark Clattenburg taking time out of refereeing after FLEEING Egypt over abuse and claims he’s in gay relationship

FORMER referee Mark Clattenburg is taking some time away from football after leaving Egypt where he was in charge of officials.

The ex-Premier League whistler suffered some outrageous abuse from Mortada Mansour, the president of Zamalek Sporting Club.

GettyMark Clattenburg left Egypt over fears for his safety[/caption]

That led to him leaving due to safety fears after threats from fans.

Clattenburg, 47, has had several offers and is taking time to consider them before his likely return to the game for the 2023-24 season.

Mansour has been critical of Clattenburg’s role in Egyptian football and incorrectly claimed that the ex-ref had left his wife to start a gay relationship.

Clattenburg, 47, has decided to leave Egypt as he feared for his safety following threats from the supporters of Zamalek.

Once considered one of Europe’s top officials, Clattenburg was also having his referee appointments changed by the League.

It is also understood Clattenburg felt he was being misled, while he was concerned by the number of dodgy decisions made by some officials.

For big games in Egypt, overseas referees are flown in but Clattenburg was having problems in persuading top officials to go to the country.

Also, Clattenburg, who arrived in August, had not been paid for two months.

He has been on about £32,000 a month.

Clattenburg left the English top flight in February 2017 to take over as the head of refereeing in Saudi Arabia and he also had stints working in China and Greece.