March 12 – Jose Gets Frisky
WHAT’S the first image that comes into your head when you hear the redundant phrase ‘respect the ref?’ For us here at OTFD Towers it’s a beleaguered man in black being surrounded by John Terry, Ashley Cole and their Chelsea team-mates. Sorry guys, it just pops straight in there.
One referee that certainly didn’t receive any respect from anyone in the Stamford Bridge hierarchy was Swede Anders Frisk who retired today in 2005 after receiving death threats in the wake of his stewardship of Chelsea’s Champions League tie with Barcelona.
The tie at Camp Nou had finished 2-1 to Barca and then-Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho was not a happy man, taking exception at Didier Drogba’s second-half red card. Jose claimed that he had seen Frisk heading into Barca manager Frank Rijkaard’s office at half-time and that “when Drogba was sent off I didn’t get surprised,” in his typically understated and sensitive manner.
The debate over what had happened in the Camp Nou tunnel rumbled on over the next couple of weeks as the British tabloid press refused to let the story die down, especially when it emerged that Frisk and his family had received death threats from angry Chelsea fans.
A bad-tempered second leg of the last-16 tie saw Chelsea progress 5-4 on aggregate, but that match too would be marred by a fracas between players and staff from each team, with a Chelsea steward being accused of racist behaviour towards Samuel Eto’o and the Catalans allegedly smashing up the visitors dressing room at Stamford Bridge.
A disillusioned Frisk, who had previously refereed the Euro 2000 final, announced his retirement following the second leg and football’s most dashing referee, with his blonde locks and dramatic flourishes with the cards, had been forced out of the game.
“I am disappointed to have to quit my post because of the attitude of people who have no respect for human values and for Fifa’s “my game is fair play” slogan,” he said, professional to the last with his crowbarring of some top Fifa marketing speak into his resignation letter.
The president of Fifa’s refereeing committee, Volker Roth, placed the blame firmly at the door of the Special One, saying: “People like Mourinho are the enemies of football”. A touchline ban soon followed.
Poor old Anders can’t really be blamed for wanting to get out of the game as six months earlier he had been hit by a missile thrown by the crowd as he left the field at half-time during Roma’s clash with Dynamo Kiev, leaving him with a nasty head injury.
Rather than show you Jose fuming at Frisk’s performance have a gander at a moment of genius from the tie below. One of football’s more eccentric characters has reason to celebrate today, so check that out here. We’ll be back tomorrow for more hazy looks back to the good ol’ days, but in the meantime check out our musings on Twitter here.
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