The Ovrebo Saga - Part 2

Unsurprisingly, the fallout from Wednesday night's encounter at Stamford Bridge has been considerable. I want to put pen to paper now, giving my honest view on some of the reaction to it all.

There seem to be various theories being banded about regarding Wednesday night's game. The first is that Ovrebo was the wrong choice to referee this game, or that he was too inexperienced. Wrong on both counts for me. The 42-year old psychologist from Oslo has been a FIFA referee for 15 years. England's most experienced International referee, Mike Riley, has been on the list for only 10 years. Ovrebo has racked up more experience than any of our English officials. He has been voted Norweigan referee of the year five times. He was refereed their Cup final twice. He has taken charge of over 20 Champions League encounters. Could he have been better prepared for Wednesday night? Not much. It was the first game he has refereed at such a late stage in the Champions League, but if he is ruled out because he hasn't done such a game before, then eventually we would run out of possible officials! Everyone has to be refereeing such a game for the first time at some point. From what I have seen, Ovrebo is a calm referee who doesn't make a fuss of things and gets on with the job. He has the imposing physical presence which should command respect. Altogether, a good choice for a match like this, as far as I'm concerned.

The next theory is that UEFA didn't want an all-English final again. That may be true, but did it translate to events on the pitch on Wednesday night? Of course not. If UEFA had told Ovrebo to make Barcelona win, then why would he have sent off Abidal when, even if he thought it was a foul, it could be argued that a yellow card would have sufficed? Frankly, whenever there is a suggestion that a referee has acted with any partiality during a game, I would be the first to dismiss it. As someone who referees, the idea that you should go out to referee with the aim of influencing the outcome of the match is just odd. There are probably officials who do that (as corruption cases in Italy and other places show) but for such officials to get to this level is inconceivable. There may be subconcious things which influence your decisions (such as a manager's comments pre-match) but they are exactly that - subconcious.

So, for me, Ovrebo was the right choice for this match, and his decisions are not the result of some UEFA instruction to ensure Barcelona made the final. Ovrebo simply had a bad game at a bad time. And with a bad team too - that team being Chelsea. The reaction of Chelsea players to things going against them has, time and again, been ridiculous.

And I think the blame lies with one man - a man who is currently celebrating winning Serie A. Until Jose Mourinho arrived at Chelsea, they as a team were no worse than any other in terms of their attitude to referees. Every team will have arguments, quarrels and give out criticisms - it happens at times - and Chelsea were no different. The likes of John Terry just got on with the game. Mourinho introduced a different culture - he made it acceptable for the Chelsea players to berate referees. He stirred things up in the press, before and after matches. He physically went mad during games. And the players at the time saw this, and followed the example of their coach. The likes of Terry, Drogba and Ballack changed their way of thinking. After Mourinho left, none of his successors (Grant, Scolari or Hiddink) have had such a mentality. But the culture change has stayed with the players, who still think Mourinho's behaviour to be acceptable. Now it is Hiddink's comments which are fairly moderate, while his players are ranting and raving to the press. If action had been taken while Mourinho was at Chelsea, action which made it quite evident that such behaviour is unacceptable, then maybe, just maybe, the events of Wednesday night would not have unfolded in the same way.

The Chelsea press machine has swung into action now, as they furiously attempt to restrain the criticism and turn their backs on some of the shameful events of Wednesday. UEFA are looking into what has happened - Drogba and Ballack will undoubtedly and deservedly receive some personal sanction (even if Drogba has since apologised), while comments by Bosingwa that Ovrebo was a 'thief' will demand some investigation too. John Terry's outspoken comments have apparently provoked investigations too.

And of course, with the players harranging the referee, certain other individuals (so called 'fans') take it upon themselves to do the same. That Ovrebo had to be smuggled out of the UK and is currently receiving police protection following death threats is a shameful indictment on our society. It has all happened before of course - remember Anders Frisk and Urs Meier, both driven to retirement. Perhaps the British aren't so polite and well-mannered after all. At the end of the day, what happened on Wednesday was a game of football. It was a hugely high-profile and important game, but it was still a game. Sadly, Bill Shankly's saying seems to ring true for some people - football is more important than life and death. Of course it isn't. Both the players involved and those fans who take things too far need to realise this. Ovrebo doesn't deserve any of what has happened to him so far. If UEFA choose to punish him with demotion, then maybe that is justified, but the personal attacks? No-one deserves that at all.

The buck is now in UEFA's court. We have seen this sort of thing happen before after high-profile errors by referees. And UEFA didn't do enough, so it has happened again. They now need to make it clear through the action they take that what has happened in the past two days, both during and after the match, is totally unacceptable. If they do that, and can set a precedent, then that will be at least one positive thing to emerge from this mess. If, however, they deal weakly with those involved, then the implication is simple - this sort of thing is acceptable, and can happen again. And it will.

Should Ovrebo referee again? I hope he will. I hope he won't retire, and I hope he will still referee international matches, as I still believe he is a good referee. You don't become a bad referee after one game. Would I blame him if he gave it up? Of course not - not after what he has been through. If he does, then that is three top officials who have been lost because of an over-reaction to their honest decisions. How many more will follow? If we keep losing officials like this, the end result will only be that the quality of officials at the top level will go down, as more junior officials are sought to replace those who quit.

I await UEFA's actions with interest. As the story continues to develop next week, lets see if they are strong and take the action they should. I'm not holding my breath.