Tom Henning Øvrebø

Tom Henning Øvrebø (born 26 June 1966) is a Norwegian former football referee. He has been a UEFA Elite referee, having refereed matches in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League. Øvrebø has also worked as a qualified psychologist outside football.

Career

Born in Oslo, Øvrebø has refereed over 200 games in the Norwegian Premier League since his debut on 20 September 1992. He represents the club Nordstrand. In 1994, he became an authorised FIFA referee. He won the Kniksen Award as referee of the year in the Norwegian Premier League for 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005 and 2006. He refereed the Norwegian Cup finals of 1999 (Rosenborg–Brann) and 2006 (Fredrikstad–Sandefjord).

Øvrebø was chosen to referee at Euro 2008 — his first major tournament and the first time he was chosen over fellow countryman and colleague Terje Hauge. He refereed the Germany–Poland match on the opening day of Group B. He refereed the Italy–Romania match, which resulted in a 1–1 draw.

Øvrebø officiated the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg between Chelsea and Barcelona on 6 May 2009, which ended as a 1–1 draw. 10-man Barcelona advanced to the final on away goals. Eric Abidal was sent off after a foul on Nicolas Anelka. After several big mistakes most of them in favor of Barcelona, Øvrebø was verbally abused by several Chelsea players, including Didier Drogba, José Bosingwa and Michael Ballack, after turning down several penalty appeals during the match. Drogba had to be physically restrained at the end of the match. Øvrebø was later escorted out of England by police in fears for his safety after receiving a number of death threats. Chelsea distanced themselves from these threats. Drogba was subsequently banned for three matches, while Bosingwa was banned for two matches. Chelsea were fined £85,000 for improper conduct on the part of their players and fans. Øvrebø has admitted he is still the subject of abuse from Chelsea fans. He also admitted that his mistakes denied the Premier League side a place in the final. In 2018, Øvrebo told Marca: "It was not my best day, really, but those mistakes can be committed by a referee, and sometimes a player or a coach. Some days you are not at the level you should be. But no, I can’t be proud of that performance.".

In the group stages of qualification for the 2010 World Cup, Øvrebø refereed the Armenia–Turkey, Belgium–Spain and the Slovakia–Czech Republic matches. On 10 October 2009, Øvrebø refereed the Greece–Latvia match. Øvrebø was among the 14 pre-selected referees from UEFA for the final stages in South Africa, but did not make the final cut of 10 representatives from Europe.

He ended his international career debut in May 2010 but continued to officiate in the Norwegian Premier League. During the 2013 season, Øvrebø only officiated matches in the Norwegian Cup and the Norwegian First Division due to a knee-injury.

In October 2013, Øvrebø announced his retirement from professional refereeing.