Associated Press

London, March 15:

UEFA is trying to persuade referee Anders Frisk to return to soccer. Last week, the Swede called an end to his international career four years early, saying he had received death threats from Chelsea fans after a stormy Champions League game against FC Barcelona.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho claimed he saw Frisk talking to Barca manager Frank Rijkaard at halftime of the February 23 match and, after the Swede sent off Blues striker Didier Drogba, the Catalan side went on to score twice and win 2-1. Although Chelsea won the return leg 4-2 to advance, Frisk decided to quit because of the threats. “The people who deal with refereeing at UEFA have been in contact with Anders to try to convince him to come back to refereeing because we need people of his caliber and people of his quality,” UEFA spokesman William Gaillard told Sky Sports News.

He was also hit on the head by an object thrown by an AS Roma fan in an earlier round on September 15 and, after he left the field with blood pouring from his head, the game against Dynamo Kiev was abandoned. Frisk has been one of FIFA’s top-ranked referees for the last decade, and has called 118 international matches, including the European Championship final in 2000 between France and Italy.