Norwegian Tom Henning Ovrebo, 42, found himself vilified on Internet forums and accused of ‘cheating’ the Chelsea after he denied them a penalty during their match against Barcelona.
There were even claims that he was part of a ‘conspiracy’ to prevent two English teams contesting the final of the prestigious club tournament.
Confrontation: Referee Tom Ovrebo has been smuggled out of the country after receiving death threats from angry Chelsea fans
At the end of Wednesday night’s match in West London - which ended in a 1-1 draw as Barcelona went through on away goals - there were chaotic scenes as Chelsea players and staff heaped abuse on the referee.
Striker Didier Drogba shouted at one TV camera that the performance of the official had been a ” fucking disgrace” while defender Jose Boswinga accused the referee of having taken a bribe and accused him of being a ‘thief.’
Midfielder Michael Ballack and Chelsea and England captain John Terry were both involved in heated arguments with Ovrebo who was finally escorted from the pitch.
It emerged yesterday that police became so worried about his safety that they changed the hotel he was staying in overnight before smuggling him out of the country.
Yesterday the referee slept for much of his two and a half hour flight home to Scandinavia and was then spirited away from Oslo’s Gardermoen airport by Norwegian football officials.
Aggression: Michael Ballack tries to intimidate Ovrebo into awarding a penalty
Norway’s football federation defended the referee, but ordered him not to speak to the media.
Rune Pedersen, the federation’s refereeing boss, said: ‘We recommended that he lay low for a while.’
‘There were episodes that might be questioned, but all in all I think the leadership of the game was good,’ Pedersen added. ‘We respect that Chelsea would question some of the decisions.’
Asked about the death threats, Pedersen said ‘we have a good system for dealing with it’ but didn’t go into details.
Police in his home city of Oslo told how they were investigating threats against him made on the internet - with one person even putting the referee’s home address on one web forum.
Outburst: Chelsea striker Didier Drogba unleashes a foul-mouthed rant live on camera
UEFA general secretary David Taylor dismissed suggestions of a conspiracy to stop the dominance of English clubs and avoid a second successive all-Premier League Champions League final.
Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in last year’s final in Moscow.
‘If anything it’s a media conspiracy against Uefa,’ said Taylor, a former chief executive of the Scottish Football Association. ‘It does make me angry. It really annoys me because it’s a load of rubbish.’
On some message boards furious Chelsea fans talked of ‘killing’ the referee with one fan posting the message: ‘ I hope someone shoots him dead!’
Another supporter wrote : ‘ I could quite happily do time for getting rid of that referee.’
Another fan - using the name Curtis Brand on the CFCnet forum - added: ‘ I am seriously considering flying to Norway and killing the ref.’
Death threats: Police in Mr Ovrebo’s home town of Oslo are investigating after threats to ‘kill’ him were posted online by fans
Last night an Oslo police spokesman said: ‘ We are watching closely what is being posted on the internet.
‘ Anything we believe would threaten his personal safety will be taken seriously.’
Ovrebo has made controversial decisions before. In last year’s European Championship, he denied Italy the lead in a 1-1 draw with Romania, when Italian striker Luca Toni appeared to be wrongly deemed offside. In 2001, Ovrebo received a one-match suspension in the Norwegian league for not red-carding Molde player Odd Inge Olsen for a nasty tackle that broke the leg of an opponent.
Last year FIFA listed him among 38 prospective referees for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Before Wednesday’s semifinal, Ovrebo said he was surprised that the Norwegian officiating team was picked for such a big match.
Fleeing to safety: Tom Henning Ovrebo asleep on the plane back to Oslo
‘But I feel confident that we will handle the match in a good way,’ Ovrebo told the Web site of the Norwegian football association.