- The passage from Mark Clattenburg’s book that upset Roy Keane has been discovered
- The extract caused an icy meeting between the two at the 2022 World Cup.
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The controversial passage in Mark Clattenburg’s autobiography that sparked a cold encounter with Roy Keane has been uncovered.
In a recent episode of Sky’s Stick to Football podcast, Keane recounted an incident with the former Premier League referee at the 2022 World Cup.
Manchester United were at the tournament on pundit duties and bumped into Clattenburg along with his podcast co-host, Gary Neville.
Speaking about the current controversy over Nottingham Forest’s declaration to the Premier League in light of Clattenburg’s role at Nottingham Forest, Keane told Neville: “He’s your mate Clattenburg!” You were on top of him in the World Cup.”
Neville then referred to the meeting in Qatar: “It’s opened a can of worms now! Basically, we were walking around this place at the World Cup, the three of us were chatting and Mark Clattenburg walks up to us.
The passage from Mark Clattenburg’s autobiography that sparked Roy Keane’s feud with the former official has been discovered.
In a recent podcast, Keane revealed that he refused to shake Clattenburg’s hand at the 2022 World Cup.
“Yes, he worked with us in previous World Cups as our referee advisor, we trained with him and got to know him a little bit.
“Basically, we were walking and I said, ‘Hey Mark, how are you?’ and then Wrighty says, ‘Mark, it’s good to see you!’ and then he (Keane) falls behind a few meters.
‘And then he walks up to Roy to shake his hand and Roy goes (makes an aggressive handshake motion). Not a word of a lie!’
Keane confirmed Neville’s recollection, noting that the Mail Sport columnist had “said something in a book” that sparked his disdain for the 49-year-old.
In his 2021 book Whistle Blower My Autobiography, Clattenburg cited Keane as an example of a player “you can’t trust” as a referee and referred to the midfielder’s “hardman exterior”.
“Then there are those who simply cannot be trusted, like Roy Keane at Manchester United.” Clattenburg wrote.
“He didn’t want to have anything to do with the referees on a personal level. He wasn’t one to chat briefly in the tunnel before the game. That was all part of his tough man exterior, he wanted to intimidate everyone.
“On the field, you never knew what he was going to do next, and that makes you nervous. If you missed a nasty challenge and he had hurt someone, it would be your fault, not him. “It was not pleasant to referee.”
However, he also noted that he thoroughly enjoyed getting to know Keane off the pitch when the two worked together at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
In his 2021 memoirs, Clattenburg insisted the Man United legend was “not pleasant to referee”.
But the 49-year-old added that he had a positive experience working alongside Keane as a broadcaster at the 2018 World Cup.
“But then I spent quite a bit of time with him during the 2018 World Cup in Russia (he also worked for ITV) and I loved his company over dinner or in the bar, although he never had a drink.” He continued.
‘It was fascinating to hear the stories of his playing career and his time as Sunderland manager. I was just a football fan who enjoyed everything.
“It was proof that these characters can be very different outside of a competitive environment, where they are so motivated to win, and Roy is perhaps the best example of that.”
