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After the assistant referee Ole Hermann Borgan posed wearing Barcelona shirts for a Norwegian publication following his appointment to officiate the UEFA Champions League final on Wednesday, the UEFA referees committee decided to replace him with another referee.
Realizing his mistake, Borgan publicly apologized to both team managers and supporters on Tuesday and assured that this incident would not affect his work during the final. However, UEFA decided not to take any risks and invited another Norwegian, Arild Sundet, to officiate the final match less than 24 hours before kickoff.
Before the decision was made by the UEFA referees committee, Borgan received support from the main referee for the final in Paris, Terje Hauge, stating that the referee's actions were very careless, but he was definitely not a fan of either of the teams playing in the final.
"What he did was really foolish," said Hauge. "But I can assure you that Borgan is definitely not a fan of Barcelona and it was just an impulsive act."
