Death threats force the referee Tom Henning Ovrebo into hiding

[Perdita]

Tom Henning Ovrebo had to be smuggled out of the country yesterday and is in hiding after he received numerous internet death threats. One dedicated Facebook group called itself Kill Tom Henning Ovrebo, and the range of abuse on others included the threat: "We [are the] group dedicated to the hunt for [and brutal murdering of] the second-leg champions league ref of Chelsea v Barcelona."

Ovrebo, 42, a Norwegian, also had his alleged address in Oslo published on the internet. Chelsea are so concerned that the club made a statement condemning the threats. "Following media reports claiming threats have been made against the referee, Chelsea Football Club would like to make clear that it condemns any form of threat against players, officials or supporters," the club said.

"If provided with proper evidence Chelsea will take the strongest action against any season-ticket holders or members who have participated in this activity. However we would stress that we have received no evidence that Chelsea fans are involved in any of the alleged threats reported."

Ovrebo, a psychologist by profession, made a number of controversial decisions on the night which included turning down several penalty appeals from Guus Hiddink's team before they finally lost on the away goals rule to Andrés Iniesta's injury-time goal.

Following verbal attacks from Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack on the pitch, which continued in the tunnel, Ovrebo was escorted from the stadium before police decided to switch his hotel room.

The threats against Ovrebo's life were last night being investigated by police in Oslo. "We're watching closely what is being posted on the internet – anything we believe would threaten his personal safety will be taken seriously," a spokesman confirmed.

Uefa has also decided to prevent Ovrebo from speaking publicly about the game, after the referee admitted mistakes immediately following the end of the tie. "Because of the circumstances after the match, Uefa has asked us not to comment to the press," said Ovrebo, who was given the appointment a standard two days before the match, according to the governing body.

While Uefa says it will make no decision regarding any future matches Ovrebo might officiate in until their referee's report is reviewed, the Norway Football Federation were quick to offer support. "We respect that Chelsea would question some of the decisions. There were episodes that might be questioned, but all in all I think the leadership of the game was good," said Rune Pedersen, head of the federation's referees.


I agree that there were wrong decisions made by the ref in this game but I find it disgusting that he has to be smuggled out of the country because some idiots are threatening to kill him - if football was still a game and not big buck business, this would never have happened. :angry:

[alan45]

In view of some of the appalling refereeing decisions made by this man and others recently surely the time has come for the fourth official to monitor the match on TV and assist with decisions just like the have in Rugby. After all there was a huge amount at stake in this match for both clubs. We are talking millions of pounds lost by Chelsea because of appalling refereeing.

[tammyy2j]

As a MU fan, Chelesa should have won - the ref was terrible but Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack were disgraceful with their behaviour

[Meh]

That's no justification to issue death threats.

[alan45]

That's no justification to issue death threats.
Maybe I should have said in my post that I utterly condemn the threats made against the referee. I was trying to point out that there is so much at stake now with these matches that the final decision should not be down to one man. Humans are fallible.

[Meh]

How hard would it be to refer a decision to a third referee for critical games?

[Perdita]

I hope they introduce video replays like they have in rugby and tennis to stop human errors in football games. That would stop players and fans behaving the way we saw at the Chelsea game.

[Katy]

At the end of the day it was a poor decision to not have one of the top referees refing such an important game, but everyone makes mistake, Look at Graham Poll in the World Cup issueing 3 yellow cards and he was meant to tbe the best referee in the UK at the time showing how human error is always going to be in games. we arent robots.

There is no excuse for death threats and this is just another incident which shows that people take fotball as more than a game.

[Chloe O'brien]

Many teams have lost due to referee's making the wrong decision and although Drego's behaviour was outrageous Chelsea have lost millions of pounds and it will contiune to happen unless they have a forth offical or use video evidence like they do in Rugby if they can afford to implement it so can Football as they bring in a lot more revenue.