Drogba apologises to referee Frisk

Didier Drogba has made a public apology to Anders Frisk, who retired from refereeing over threats to him and his family following Chelsea's Champions' League match at Barcelona last month.

Didier Drogba has made a public apology to Anders Frisk, who retired from refereeing over threats to him and his family following Chelsea's Champions' League match at Barcelona last month.

Frisk retired following criticism by Jose Mourinho over his handling of the tie. The Chelsea manager said that his Barcelona counterpart Frank Rijkaard had talked to Frisk at half-time, and Drogba was sent off early in the second half of a 2-1 defeat for a second bookable offence.

"I would like to apologise to Mr Frisk if I might have, in any way, prompted him to end his refereeing career," the Ivory Coast striker said on French television. "I really hope he will change his mind. Football needs great referees and Mr Frisk is one of them. Everyone makes mistakes and referees are human, we have to accept that."

Chelsea won the second leg 4-2 in London to claim a quarter-final spot and Frisk announced his retirement four days later.Mourinho has since been described as "an enemy of football" by Volker Roth, the head of the refereeing panel at Uefa, European football's governing body.

The Swede said on Saturday he would not go back on his decision despite efforts by Uefa and the game's world governing body Fifa to change his mind.

"There has been a general trend of criticism, not just between officials and representatives from clubs, but also from club managers," said Lars-Christer Olsson, Uefa's chief executive yesterday. "It seems some people are trying to move the competition from the pitch to the fencing before matches. I don't appreciate that at all.

"I am not aiming these comments at any individual, but Jose Mourinho's remark in Barcelona was not very clever. We all have a responsibility to calm this down, come back to normal and treat each other in a fair way."

Rio Ferdinand has said he would reject a move to Chelsea. "There has been talk in the media about Real Madrid and Chelsea but there have been no offers for me while I have been at United and if there were I would dismiss them straight away," Manchester United's England defender told the Red Issue fanzine.

"I am enjoying my football. I am enjoying my life where I am living. I don't think I have ever woken up somewhere that is so comfortable since I left London."