Sports official may be seen as a poet (8)
I believe the answer is:
linesman
'sports official' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'seen as a poet' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'as' could be 'in' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'in' is found within the answer.
'a' could be 'an' and 'an' is present in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
'may be' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for linesman that I've seen before include "park official" , "Football official" , "Official helping referee - telephone repairer" , "Male official with a flag" , "Referee's assistant" .)