Norwegian referee Tom Henning Øvrebo, whose rose to prominence after refusing a string of penalties to Chelsea in the 2009 Champions League semi-final, is set to retire from international football

Øvrebo has officiated for 16 years but failed to make the cut for the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa

His impending retirement from international competition was announced by the Norwegian football federation

"Of course we're sad that Tom Henning Øvrebo has decided to stop officiating at international level, but we're proud of his achievements," the federation said in a statement

Chelsea might see it differently

Øvrebo had to be smuggled out of Britain following the second leg of the semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona in 2009, from which the Spanish club advanced to the final and went on to win the trophy

Øvrebo turned down four strong penalty appeals by Chelsea and at the end of the game was confronted by a furious Didier Drogba and had to be escorted down the tunnel by a group of Chelsea stewards who had difficulty restraining the striker

Øvrebo's situation had worrying echoes of the hounding of Swedish referee Anders Frisk, who retired from the game in 2005 after receiving death threats in the wake of another ill-tempered meeting between Chelsea and Barcelona

Øvrebo will continue to officiate at national level