Uefa has imposed a gagging order on Tom Henning Ovrebo
after the Norwegian referee provoked a huge furore with a series of
controversial decisions during Chelsea’s Champions League exit at
the hands of Barcelona.
Ovrebo waved away a series of penalty appeals from the home
side, most notably when Gerard Pique handballed in the second half,
and the match official provoked considerable anger from Chelsea’s
players.
Michael Ballack appeared to place his hands on Ovrebo when
Samuel Eto’o was not penalised for handball in the dying seconds,
while Didier Drogba was also booked following the final whistle as
he had to be pulled away from the referee by stewards and
team-mates.
Following such distasteful scenes, Uefa has instructed Ovrebo
not to make any comment on the match or the behaviour of Chelsea’s
players which is sure to come under the scrutiny of the governing
body.
“Because of the circumstances after the match, Uefa has asked us
not to comment to the press,” Ovrebo told Aftenposten.
Graham Poll has told Setanta that Uefa had to change Ovrebo’s
hotel arrangements as a result of press attention and the former
Premier League referee has also
strongly condemned the actions of the Chelsea players.
