Referee from Chelsea's 2009 home tie with Barcelona still given abuse

• Tom Henning Ovrebo turned down four penalty appeals
• Barcelona reached Champions League final thanks to late goal

Chelsea's Michael Ballack shouts after the referee Tom Henning Ovrebo rules out a penalty against Barcelona in 2009. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters

Tom Henning Ovrebo, the Norwegian referee widely criticised for the manner in which he handled Chelsea's Champions League semi-final second leg with Barcelona three years ago, has revealed he still receives abusive emails from supporters of the London club.

The 45-year-old quit international refereeing in May 2010 after not being selected by Fifa to officiate at the last World Cup but has told the Guardian that he continues to be reminded of what remains the most infamous night of his career.

Ovrebo turned down four penalty appeals by the home side during the contest at Stamford Bridge in May 2009 and subsequently became the focus of their fury after Andrés Iniesta's late equaliser saw the match end 1-1 and put Pep Guardiola's side into the final on away goals.

Ovrebo was verbally abused by Didier Drogba and José Bosingwa immediately after the final whistle, for which the players received four- and three-match bans respectively, before being subjected to death threats from irate Chelsea fans, some of whom hound him to this day.

"It [abuse] has lasted and I get about three to four emails [from Chelsea fans] a year," said Ovrebo, who lives in Oslo and continues to officiate in Norway's Tippeligaen, the country's top division. "It is not nice but nothing too serious, either. I don't let it upset me or my family. They do not know much about it as I do not show them the emails."

The father of four, who also runs a psychologist's practice in his hometown and is currently working with members of Norway's Olympic squad, insists he has no regrets about ending his 16-year career as a top-level official but, ahead of Chelsea and Barcelona facing each other in the semi-finals of the Champions League later this month, admits to mistakes in how he managed their last meeting in the competition.

"Looking back there are certainly things I would have done differently. I learnt a lot from that experience," he said. "But all referees will tell you that they have good and bad matches, moments they do well and moments they do not so well, that is all part of the job. I cannot keep regrets about this one match. My life has to move on from this."

Despite his bullishness over events in south-west London, Ovrebo admits the experience did tarnish his love of football and that he now watches fewer matches on television than he used to. Will he, however, be tuning in for Chelsea's first leg with Barcelona on 18 April?

"For sure," he said. "Despite all that happened I still love watching the Champions League, especially the big matches that come later on in the tournament, and this is definitely a big match."