Clattenburg cleared after Southampton complaint

London: English referee Mark Clattenburg has been cleared of insulting Southampton captain Adam Lallana during a Premier League match against Everton.

Southampton made a formal complaint after Clattenburg apparently said that Lallana's attitude had changed since he started playing for England's national team.

The Professional Game Match Officials Limited says "given the nature of the conversation with the player, having reviewed the footage and spoken to the team of officials as well as the Premier League Match Delegate it has been found that there is no case to answer."

Clattenburg is one of the FIFA candidates to referee at this year's World Cup in Brazil.