The controversial refereeing of the Norwegian Terje Hauge in the UEFA Champions League Final on Wednesday night generated more than a few opinions throughout the European football officials. After FIFA forgave Thierry Henry and coach Arsene Wenger for their accusations regarding the Norwegian - that he wanted Barcelona to win from the very beginning - the Catalan newspapers were angry with Hauge too, for the way he conducted the match. Being accused by both sides, he tried to justify his decisions just the day after, explaining to all his contesters why he eliminated Lehman.

Although he was very satisfied with the way he performed on Stade de France, being backed-up by the president of UEFA refereeing body, Terje Hauge had to suffer one more blow. This time, coming not just from anyone, but from the FIFA president himself, Sepp Blatter: "He was too quick to blow the whistle. In certain actions, and not just in the goalmouth, he should let the advantage and finish the action. He can then come back and blow the whistle".

Blatter continued: "It was a great game, but it was not helped by the refereeing from the very beginning. He should have let the goal stand, given the goalkeeper a yellow card then the match is still 11 against 11, and it's an open game because it is 1-0. At such a high level we expect at FIFA and in the World Cup that such situations will not occur".

Although he is being contested by almost all the parties involved in Barcelona - Arsenal game, Hauge is still backed up by UEFA. In fact, UEFA's director of communication stated that: "Technically, he was right to send Lehmann off. Perhaps if he had waited half a second more and been less quick it would have had a different outcome. These are the circumstances of life but technically he was right".