TOM HENNING Ovrebo was smuggled out of Britain yesterday and is in hiding after he received numerous internet death threats. One Facebook group called itself: Kill Tom Henning Ovrebo and the abuse on others included: “We [are the] group dedicated to the hunt for [and brutal murdering of] the second-leg champions league ref of Chelsea v Barcelona.”
Overbo, 42, a Norwegian, had his alleged address in Oslo published on the internet. “Following media reports claiming threats have been made against the referee, Chelsea Football Club would like to make clear 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.”
Ovrebo made a number of controversial decisions which included turning down several penalty appeals from Guus Hiddink’s team before they lost on the away goals rule to Andreas Iniesta’s injury-time goal. Following verbal attacks from Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack on the pitch, Ovrebo was escorted from the stadium before police switched his hotel room.
Ovrebo may have accepted he made “significant mistakes” but he is not, as he has been characterised, an inexperienced official. But, having taken control of 22 Champions League games during his career, including this season’s quarter-final first leg between Villarreal and Arsenal, Ovrebo is hardly unacquainted with controversy.
In fact there may be the opinion Ovrebo has form for making game-changing – and wrong – decisions in high-profile matches. At last summer’s European Championship he had to apologise for a number of errors in a group game between Italy and Romania, the most significant being a late penalty after he had decided Christian Panucci fouled Adrian Mutu. The kick was missed, leaving the match to end 1-1. But Uefa had seen enough to stand him down from the remainder of a tournament.
Asked last night if the mistakes at Euro 2008 should have been enough to eliminate Ovrebo from refereeing high-profile matches, a Uefa source said: “Of course he got bad [marks in the referee’s assessment] but referees are human beings and they can make mistakes so it can happen once.”
Now, though, there may be a view that at Stamford Bridge it occurred a second time. Ovrebo, who was told on Monday he would be refereeing the semi-final second leg by Uefa’s referee committee, may not get a third opportunity to attract fevered attention.
“All our referees are on the Fifa list. To be appointed there are several criteria which include good [marks] from previous matches,” the source added, before saying: “At the moment it’s not known if he will be considered or not [for any big games in the future].”
Guardian Service
