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Chelsea hold Clattenburg peace talks

Mark Clattenburg will referee Southampton v Norwich on Wednesday © Getty Images

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Chelsea have taken a step towards making peace with referee Mark Clattenburg after club chairman Bruce Buck met with the referee, according to reports.

Buck visited the national football centre at St George's Park on Monday where he met with the Premier League's 16 elite referees including Clattenburg, the official who Chelsea accused of making an inappropriate comment to one of their players last month, reports the Times .

Last week the FA cleared Clattenburg over claims he had called Chelsea's Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel a "monkey" during the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on October 28.

Clattenburg, who had always denied the accusations, had already seen a police investigation dropped after no one came forward as an injured party in any alleged incident.

Mikel, however, could face disciplinary action after he was charged with misconduct for his angry post-match reaction towards Clattenburg.

Chelsea accepted the FA's decision but had been criticised by the referees' union, Prospect, for not issuing a public apology to Clattenburg. However, Buck held face-to-face talks with Clattenburg on his visit to the Staffordshire training camp as the first part of a reconciliation process between the two parties.

Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore and Professional Game Match Officials chief executive Mike Riley were also in attendance.

After missing four rounds of Premier League fixtures due to the investigation, Clattenburg returned to action on Sunday working as the fourth official at White Hart Lane for Tottenham's 3-1 win over West Ham.

He will return to full refereeing duties when Southampton take on Norwich City at St Mary's on Wednesday evening.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.