Anders Frisk (born 18 February 1963 in Gothenburg, Sweden) is an insurance agent by trade and until recently, one of Europe's top football referees. He retired from refereeing in March 2005.
Referee data
- Date of birth: 18.02.1963
- Place of birth: Gothenburg (SWE)
- Nationality: Swedish
- Hometown: Mölndal (SWE)
- Profession: Insurance agent
- Languages: Swedish, English and German
- Height: 184cm
- Weight: 73kg
Career
Frisk was born on 18 February 1963 in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, and currently lives in Mölndal, his hometown. He began refereeing in 1978, began taking charge of Swedish top-division matches in 1989, and was awarded his FIFA badge in 1991. In addition to refereeing at the highest level, Frisk is also acting as an ambassador for the UEFA/International Committee of the Red Cross campaign highlighting the plight of children in war, which will be given widespread exposure at the Portugal final round. He travelled to Sierra Leone this spring for a first-hand view of the ICRC's work, and declared himself deeply moved by the scenes of families reuniting.
In 1991, he travelled to Switzerland to take charge of matches in the UEFA European Under-16 Championship final round. A stint at the FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Japan two years later was followed by recognition at elite UEFA levels.
Picked for 1996 European Football Championships (EURO '96) in England, Frisk refereed the 3-3 thriller group match between Russia and the Czech Republic in Liverpool.
He was forced to miss the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France in 1998 with a back injury, but recovered well enough that he was named to take charge of the 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup final between Brazil and Mexico in the Estadio Azteca , Mexico DF .
The highlight of his career came soon after when he was selected to officiate the 2000 European Football Championships (EURO 2000) final between France and Italy at the Feyenoord Stadium in Rotterdam. The appointment "brought me out in goose pimples," he was later quoted as saying.
After that appointment, Frisk stayed at the forefront of the European refereeing scene. He took charge of two matches in the World Cup in Japan and Korea: a group match between Brazil and China, and a second-round match between the Republic of Ireland and Spain. The referee for the Final, Pierluigi Collina, later wrote in his autobiography that Frisk had been the only other official that he had considered to have the credentials to receive the appointment. Later that year, Frisk took charge of the UEFA Champions League semi-final, second leg between Chelsea FC and AS Monaco FC. He also appeared at EURO 2004, refereeing the semi-final between Haolland and Portugal.
On September 15 2004, Frisk was forced to abandon a match he was refereeing between AS Roma and Dynamo Kyiv at the Stadio Olimpico in the group stage of the 2004-05 UEFA Champions League after he was hit by a missile thrown from the stands as he walked off the field at half-time. He was seen to be bleeding quite heavily and subsequently abandoned the match. UEFA eventually awarded the match to Kyiv as a 3–0 forfeit, and ordered that Roma play its remaining two home fixtures in the group stage behind closed doors.
On March 12, Frisk announced his immediate retirement, citing threats made to his family.[1] Two weeks previously, he had been severely criticised following his handling of a UEFA Champions League tie between FC Barcelona and Chelsea FC, during which he sent off Chelsea's Didier Drogba for receiving two cautions. Chelsea also publically accused Frisk of having (irregularly) invited Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard into his room at half-time.
UEFA charged Chelsea with inappropriate conduct following the match. Mourinho received a touchline ban for both legs of Chelsea's semi-final against Bayern Munich for the suggestion that Rijkaard had entered the officials' dressing room. It was revealed on April 7 that the UEFA venue director, Pascal Fratellia, had observed Rijkaard say hello in the tunnel and then attempt to converse with Frisk about the match on the way to the officials' room. His attempts apparently ended outside the room when Frisk told him "This is not the place or the moment to talk about the match". [2]
