Former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg has claimed that his comments about letting Tottenham Hotspur self-destruct have been "misinterpreted".
The 42-year-old officiated the match between Spurs and Chelsea in May 2016 when Mauricio Pochettino's side needed to win to keep alive their hopes of winning the Premier League.
Tottenham took a two-goal lead in the game at Stamford Bridge but were pegged back to a final score of 2-2, which conceded the title to Leicester City.
Clattenburg was criticised for claiming on NBC's Men in Blazers podcast that he could have sent off three players but instead "allowed Tottenham to self-destruct".
Speaking on BBC Sport, the Head of Refereeing for the Saudi Arabian Football Federation said: "That was only in the last five minutes. When they self-destructed was when Chelsea equalised.
"What I said on the podcast probably got misinterpreted or I said it in the wrong way. But when Tottenham lost their discipline in the last few minutes it was an opportunity for me to say 'the game is finished, do I want to be the centre of attention?'
"One thing I don't want to do is be the centre of attention Tottenham drew the match which meant they had lost the title. I always said my game plan was not to be the centre of attention, not to cost anybody the title and not to influence the result."
During the bad-tempered game which has since been dubbed "the Battle of Stamford Bridge", Clattenburg booked nine Tottenham players, the most for one team in a Premier League match.
Giuseppe Labellarte
