Infamous 2009 Chelsea-Barca referee admits his mistakes

18 feb 2018

Nearly nine years removed from May 6, 2009, referee Tom Henning-Ovrebo made a 'mea culpa' for the poor officiating of Chelsea-Barcelona, the Champions League semi-final. His painfully obvious blunder cost Chelsea a spot in the final, which went to the Catalans. The match passed into history for as one of the more infamous examples of refereeing errors.

The Londoners wanted four clear penalties called; none of which were.

"It was certainly not my best day, really,” recognized Ovrebo. “But these mistakes can be made by any referee, as well as by a player or coach, but I cannot be proud of that night.”

“There were several mistakes," he acknowledged to Marca. Ovrebo says he received death threats after the match and was forced to change hotels that evening.

He retired in 2010 due to a knee injury but also because he was not called for the World Cup in South Africa: "Unfortunately that bad night influenced my career.”