Referee Tom Henning Ovrebo 'still highly motivated' after Chelsea furore

Tom Henning Ovrebo, the Norwegian ­referee who was at the centre of Chelsea's controversial Champions League exit last week, has broken his silence by saying he is "still highly motivated" to officiate at the highest level and will not let "one incident" spoil his affection for football.



"I won't comment on what has happened since Wednesday," he told the Guardian in reference to the incident-packed match at Stamford Bridge last week. Pressed if he was happy at the ­support shown to him by Uefa, he said: "I can't give you any comments on that. My focus is now on my coming matches in Norway and the future. But since this happened I have been noticed more in the street and people are pointing."

The 42-year-old has not officiated since the Champions League semi-final, in which Barcelona beat Chelsea to progress to this month's final, against ­Manchester United in Rome. Following the game Chelsea's players, led by Didier Drogba, protested at decisions which included Ovrebo's refusal to award a penalty following several claims. The referee was then given a police escort before returning to Norway and keeping a low profile.

Ovrebo said that his relationship with the game has not been soured. "Why do I like football? Why shouldn't I? It's always been part of my life since I was seven — I was playing football since that age so it's hard to stop liking it because of one incident."

Ovrebo could not say he would always be a referee, saying: "That's hard to tell, but at the moment I'm still very motivated." He also said that being a psychologist helped him to control games. "Of course there's a lot of psychology in refereeing and of course its [about] man-management, things like this. And it's also important to know of stress-management."

Asked if his experience as a taxi driver helped him to referee, Ovrebo, who on Saturday will referee Brann versus Start in the Norwegian league in his first match since the Champions League semi-final, said: "Could be, could be. It's a good thought."