Premier League referee Clattenburg becomes the first official to complete a successive sequence of taking charge of the finals of the FA Cup, Champions League and European Championship.
Advertisement
Clattenburg has already refereed three games in the tournament. Michel can be proud – very proud – of his Euro.
France are around Even money (2.0) generally after dispatching a Germany side who will feel they could well have beaten the hosts, having dominated large spells of the game.
The 41-year-old from Newcastle follows in the footsteps of Portugal’s Pedro Proenca, who achieved the feat in 2012. Sunday’s final will be Clattenburg’s fourth appointment at the finals following Belgium v Italy, Czech Republic v Croatia and Switzerland v Poland.
Clattenburg, 41, was selected as the Premier League’s representative at the tournament but faced a hard end to the domestic season and was criticised for his performance in the FA Cup final between Crystal Palace and Manchester United.
He twice awarded Palace free-kicks when arguably he should have played the advantage.
His decision not to send off Real Madrid defender Pepe during the Champions League final in May also attracted criticism, with the Portuguese being pulled up on a number of occasions by Clattenburg for simulation.
Further incidents came in January 2014 when the governing body cleared him of misconduct when Southampton alleged he made inappropriate comments towards Adam Lallana, and in 2005.
Advertisement
Despite those controversies, he remains a highly-regarded official. He is also one of only six Englishmen to oversee a European Cup final.
