Champions League - Chelsea condemn death threats

Eurosport - Fri, 08 May 09:01:00 2009

Chelsea have issued a statement condemning any threats that have been made against referee Tom Henning Ovrebo following his performance in the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.

Chelsea's Michael Ballack (R) screams at referee Tom Henning Ovrebo after a possible handball by Barcelona during their Champions League second leg semi-final 
REUTERS - 0

It has been reported that internet death threats had been made against the Norwegian official and that he had been "smuggled out of the country" under police escort and advised to change hotels.

"Following media reports claiming threats have been made against the referee of last night's game, Chelsea Football Club would like to make clear that it condemns any form of threat against players, officials or supporters," the club said in a statement.

"If provided with proper evidence Chelsea will take the strongest action against any season ticket holders or members who have participated in this activity.

"Everybody connected with Chelsea is very disappointed with the events of last night. However we would stress that we have received no evidence that Chelsea fans are involved in any of the alleged threats reported."

"As a result of these reports we have also been in contact with the police who likewise had not received any complaints."

Chelsea fans were upset Ovrebo did not award them a penalty, despite several strong appeals, during the 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge that sent Barcelona into the final on the away goals rule.

Several players, notably striker Didier Drogba, remonstrated furiously with the referee after the tie, which was settled by Andres Iniesta's stoppage-time goal.

Swedish referee Anders Frisk retired after he and his family received death threats following his dismissal of Drogba against the same opponents in the 2005 Champions League.

Ovrebo told Aftenposten that he had been informed by UEFA not to make any comment on the furore.

"Because of the circumstances after the match, Uefa has asked me not to comment to the press," Ovrebo said.

Former international referee Graham Poll commented: "This morning he's being smuggled out of our country under police escort - this is a referee of a football match. That is a disgrace.

"When he booked in a hotel they had to change the hotel he was staying at because of the fear that maybe fans would find him."

Reuters

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  1. Get real,get a life, if Drogba spent a fraction of the­ time he spends moaning actually contributing to his­ team he might just be a half decent footballer, the­ others are not much better. Bottom line is if Chelsea­ were good enough they would be in the final enuf said­ and no amount of blaming anybody will change that. As­ for the so called supporters issuing death threats, do­ you do that after your horse loses, do rugby supporters­ carry on like that, tennis? etc etc. No, well get over­ it and be proud of your team for reaching the stage­ they did reach and no I dont support Man Utd but­ Inverness Caley Thistle and Ill be there sunday as they­ scrap for SPL survival like a real supporter. Cheers

    From allangreen123, on Fri 8 May 5:17PM
  2. I DONT KNOW WHY WE ARE STILL TALKING ABOUT THIS­ SUBJECT????THE GAME IS OVER...BARCA IN THE FINAL WITH­ MAN U.THIS IS THE REALITY.BUT IN MY OPINION DROGBA­ SHOULD BE BANNED FOR LIFE....WHAT HE DID WAS WRONGGGG.

    From Alex, on Fri 8 May 4:58PM
  3. death threats? yeh okay the ref might be a prik but­ death threats arent going to solve that instead the­ uefa governers or wateva they are called

    From smiley123, on Fri 8 May 3:30PM
  4. if anyone researched this referee's previous­ performances you would certainly get an­ 'anti-english' impression. he reffed chelsea,­ arsenal, liverpool and man u and all ended in draws. ­ also he awarded 9 yellow cards to english teams and­ only 2 to the opposers (and a red to abidal). he gave­ a wrong penalty against liverpool but reina managed to­ save it thank god.
    i am a chelsea fan and despite being­ angry at the ref i believe it was payback for not­ getting an away goal. but for all you blues-hating­ drogba-berating scummy scousers and c0cky catalans­ chelsea were the only team to prevent barca scoring at­ the nou camp this season (an incredible show of­ unbreakable defense) and if replays were enabled would­ have been in the final.
    im sorry its not manchester­ united vs chelsea for the 2nd time, and its a shame­ that the final is not between the 2 best teams in­ europe. ovrebo was man of the match, barcelona would­ have been lost without him. but death threats is a bit­ far, just give him a good kicking.

    From freedom, on Fri 8 May 1:49PM
  5. Typical over reaction from the sort of scum that has­ blighted football since the 1970's when Chelsea­ bootboys were in fashion.

    Such a shame that English­ football is brought down to this level again.

    The­ players that attacked the referee need banning from­ future European competition and the club needs to take­ the hit for failing to control the players. Drogba­ especially for his expletive filled TV performance and­ Ballack for the arm around the refs neck.

    Maybe the­ message will get through. But what do you expect for a­ club owned by a person like Abramovich? No respect or­ decency.

    From Delberto Gooner, on Fri 8 May 12:49PM
  6. Look at video: Fletcher a. pulls Cesc's shoulder­ with his arm before touching the ball b. the touch was­ slight to not really push the ball away so that would­ leave Cesc to control it unless Fletcher tripped the­ guy.
    Penalty and the red card are justified.
    However, I­ support to amnesty him 'cos the coming Barca's­ win show without Fletcher the best MU's player­ would be spoiled.

    From andreiyelckin, on Fri 8 May 12:12PM
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    From WWW.PREMIERSHIP.ALTERVISTA.ORG, on Fri 8 May 10:44AM
  8. I will not comment much on outcome of the Chelsea -­ Barca match as everyone is aware of the (pupporetd)­ result and the winner is well known!
    However while­ brousing through some comments I have come across this­ write-up by one persona: ''BRAKOJO'',­ posted Friday 8 May at 6:50 am on number 692.
    Brakojo­ is to say the least not even a football fan and must be­ viewed as one most conservative if not utterly archaic­ thinking subscriber to our Page. In short let Brakojo­ know that God (or Nature) actually created the Planet­ Earth as a jungle and if Europe does not have forests­ now it is only because of the reckless abuse of such­ natural resources by people like Brakojo. No wonder now­ we see large numbers of ships prowing the Atlantic to­ fell and ferry wood and timber from African and­ American 'jungles' to feed European­ industries!
    Brakojo, being what he/she is cannot see­ that Drogba was made King of Football for his display­ of football antics in Europe while the likes of­ Brakojos sat PHWII! watching and crapping from the­ terraces as Drogba wound through defences to score goal­ after goal and win game after game!
    IF DROGBA IS A­ BEAST THEN WE WONDER WHO IN NOT A BEAST CONSIDERING­ BRAKOJO'S MENTALITY of calling all Africa a­ jungle!
    Signed BIZIEL.( Lilongwe, Malawi). Give my Tel­ No. to Brakojo:00265999455362

    From Biziel, on Fri 8 May 10:38AM
  9. there is always so much attached to football.
    Injustice­ anywhere should be frowned at. today it's chelsea,­ tommorrow it may be arsenal, liverpool, man.u or any­ other club in england. if uefa says they don't want­ any 2 english clubs in the finals, then they should­ approve only one club in the epl in eufa champions­ league. let's face it, england is where they play­ football in europe. 3 epl teams in the semis for 2­ consecutive years is testimony to this assertion. tough­ luck chelsea! keep on keeping on. you will soon have­ your time in the sun.

    From fateh, on Fri 8 May 9:51AM
  10. Well Well Well the ugly worm has raised its' head­ again this is the second time that the so called­ supporters of Chelsea have sent death threats to a ref­ Anders Frisk comes to mind not so many years ago they­ did the same and yes Arsenal and Man utd players have­ done the same surrounding the ref but thats it they­ dont go round calling everybody cheats ect ect when­ Chelsea were not in the champions league as much it was­ a lot better you didn't have animals playing in the­ league as in the words of Bill Beaumont Football is a­ game for gentlemen played by animals and rugby is a­ game for animals played by gentlemen and after­ wednesday nights display do the non footballing who­ watch the odd match need any more proof kick chelsea­ out for one year and the UEFA
    cup and ban Drgba for­ life!!! You wont get any more incidents that would­ happen in Rugby Union!!!! about time football cleaned­ its act up or start loosing more fans it dosen't­ matter if the ref was wrong you still have to respect­ him as in evry other walk of life sorry but thats the­ way of the world.

    From tippersbob, on Fri 8 May 9:32AM
  11. The fact of the matter is not one of the chelsea­ players would be good enought to get into the Barcelona­ team, thats why they lost.

    From Stephen V, on Fri 8 May 9:28AM
  12. really sad, has to go to this extent - for a game of­ footy ! cheatski players n fans have lost it big time,­ no sympathy from me

    From ispurs, on Fri 8 May 9:13AM
  13. Chelsea fan since 1967 and so pround that my team is­ reaching the latter stages of the Champions league­ every year. Of course it would be nice to win it, but­ it's not that long ago that we were constantly­ struggling. This weeks result was a farce, the ref was­ pathetic, but I thought only the Pique handball was a­ penalty and the ref didn't see it, that's our­ tough luck, we should have won the game without relying­ on penalty claims, we had the chances. Reaction from­ Drogba and Ballack was understandable, but guys, you­ just can't do that. The press have loved it and­ stir up even more problems. Let's concentrate on­ puching ManU and Liverpool and winning the cup. And, I­ hate to say it, but lets hope ManU stuff Barca in the­ final. Come on the reds

    From Yorkie, on Fri 8 May 9:13AM
  14. agggggggg refreee eo ya imela waitse n dts one f da­ things fifa nid 2 review......da conscious f wt he dd­ ll haunt him....

    From biborammala, on Fri 8 May 9:10AM
  15. come to think of it, don't FA of English league­ support there representative in UEFA champions league.­ it time they wake up from there slumber and take the­ bull by the horn. it baffle me to see that FA had not­ made any comment as regards to the officiating of­ referee Ovrebo. is it not appreciative to see two­ premiership team to always be in the final of champions­ league. wake up FA, FA wake up. Chelsea deserve to be­ in the final because they played what i called the best­ tactical football against a team that played a free­ flowing football but had no means of penitration, UEFA­ know what they have done, they should go ahead to play­ the final and forget about sanctioning any player.

    From walisamuel, on Fri 8 May 9:10AM
  16. come to think of it, don't FA of English league­ support there representative in UEFA champions league.­ it time they wake up from there slumber and take the­ bull by the horn. it baffle me to see that FA had not­ made any comment as regards to the officiating of­ referee Ovrebo. is it not appreciative to see two­ premiership team to always be in the final of champions­ league. wake up FA, FA wake up. Chelsea deserve to be­ in the final because they played what i called the best­ tactical football against a team that played a free­ flowing football but had no means of penitration, UEFA­ know what they have done, they should go ahead to play­ the final and forget about sanctioning any player.

    From walisamuel, on Fri 8 May 9:06AM
  17. It was really a case of sentiment on the officiating­ team. I know the ref has 2 use his discretion, but not­ when the same foul is repeated 3 good times. COrrect me­ if im wrong, Ball 2 hand is not a foul but hand 2 ball(­ as evident in 2 of the 3 cases) is a clear foul and­ inside the 18 yard , Hmmmmm is a clear penalty. Im a­ chelsea fan. It was really a case of daylight robbery­ and I would like UEFA 2 look into this case and do­ justice.

    From abdulwahab, on Fri 8 May 8:44AM
  18. I am a true blue chelsea fan and yes I am disappointed­ that we did not win and get a place in the final, but­ it's footbal, these things happen, that's the­ way it go'es.But as I have commented on many times­ before, there is too much money involved in football­ these days annd sportsmanship has gone totally out of­ the window.
    But to keep on accusing Chelsea of being­ sore losers, well ain', Man U, Arsenal and­ Liverpool, haven't we all seen their players­ chasing after officials during and after a game where­ they have lost due to some decision not going their­ way.
    Ok we know they have the capability to do things­ electronically and have all sorts of technology to aid­ the ref in his game, but where would that take us, into­ the realms of robots, is that what we really­ want!!!!!
    Come on people wake up its only a game, no­ one dies do they and as for issuing death threats to­ the ref, well just goes to show that there are people­ of low intelligence everywhere, and people like that­ will always issue some form of threat cos they have not­ had the result they wanted and they are not true­ fans.
    There is always next season.
    Its all part of­ being a fan of a club, ANY CLUB

    From DAVID, on Fri 8 May 8:43AM
  19. I am a true blue chelsea fan and yes I am disappointed­ that we did not win and get a place in the final, but­ it's footbal, these things happen, that's the­ way it go'es.But as I have commented on many times­ before, there is too much money involved in football­ these days annd sportsmanship has gone totally out of­ the window.
    But to keep on accusing Chelsea of being­ sore losers, well ain', Man U, Arsenal and­ Liverpool, haven't we all seen their players­ chasing after officials during and after a game where­ they have lost due to some decision not going their­ way.
    Ok we know they have the capability to do things­ electronically and have all sorts of technology to aid­ the ref in his game, but where would that take us, into­ the realms of robots, is that what we really­ want!!!!!
    Come on people wake up its only a game, no­ one dies do they and as for issuing death threats to­ the ref, well just goes to show that there are people­ of low intelligence everywhere, and people like that­ will always issue some form of threat cos they have not­ had the result they wanted and they are not true­ fans.
    There is always next season.
    Its all part of­ being a fan of a club, ANY CLUB

    From DAVID, on Fri 8 May 8:43AM
  20. Chelsea should be banned at least 2 years from Europe­ as well as Drogba, as this is not their first outburst.­ Instead of accusing the ref they should lokk at the­ game again and blame themselves for missing all these­ chances.. As for Ballack, everybody knows he has no­ respect for the refs and his opponents in a game...

    From refik, on Fri 8 May 8:38AM
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