Frisk was born on 18 February 1963 in the Swedish city of
Gothenburg, and lives in
Mölndal, his hometown, where he runs a historic cinema. He began refereeing in 1978 and took charge of
Swedish top-division matches for the first time in 1989. He was awarded his
FIFA badge in 1991. In addition to refereeing at the highest level, Frisk also acts as an
ambassador for the
UEFA/
International Committee of the Red Cross campaign highlighting the plight of children in war. He travelled to
Sierra Leone for a first-hand view of the ICRC's work, and declared himself deeply moved by the scenes of reunited families. In 1991, he travelled to
Switzerland to take charge of matches in the UEFA European Under-16 Championship final round. He became a
FIFA international referee at the age of 28, his first international match was Iceland against Turkey on 17 July 1991. A stint at the
FIFA Under-17 World Championship in Japan two years later was followed by recognition at elite UEFA levels. Picked for
Euro 96 in England, Frisk refereed the 3-3 group match between
Russia and the
Czech Republic in
Liverpool. He was forced to miss the
1998 FIFA World Cup in France in 1998 with a back injury, but recovered in time to take charge of the 1999
Confederations Cup final between
Brazil and
Mexico in the
Estadio Azteca,
Mexico City. Soon after, he was selected to officiate the
Euro 2000 final between
France and
Italy at the
Feijenoord Stadion in
Rotterdam. After that appointment, he took charge of two matches in the
2002 World Cup in
Korea and Japan: a group match between Brazil and China, and a second-round match between the Republic of Ireland and Spain. The referee for the Final,
Pierluigi Collina, later wrote in his autobiography that Frisk had been the only other official that he had considered to have the credentials to receive the appointment. Later in 2004, Frisk took charge of the
Champions League semi-final, second leg between
Chelsea and
Monaco. He also appeared at
Euro 2004, refereeing the semi-final between
Netherlands and
Portugal and he was
fourth official in the final. In September 2004, Frisk was forced to abandon a match he was refereeing between
Roma and
Dynamo Kyiv at the
Stadio Olimpico in the group stage of the
2004–05 Champions League after he was hit by a coin thrown from the stands as he walked off the field at half-time. He was seen to be bleeding, and subsequently abandoned the match. UEFA eventually awarded the match to Kyiv as a 3–0 forfeit, and ordered that Roma play its remaining two home fixtures in the group stage behind closed doors. On 12 March 2005, Frisk announced his immediate retirement, citing threats made against his family following a UEFA Champions League tie between
Barcelona and Chelsea, during which he sent off Chelsea's
Didier Drogba for receiving two cautions. Chelsea's manager,
José Mourinho, accused Frisk of inviting Barça manager,
Frank Rijkaard, into his room at half-time. UEFA charged Chelsea with inappropriate conduct following the match and Mourinho received a touchline ban for both legs of Chelsea's quarter-final against
Bayern Munich. He presided over 118 international games during his 18-year career. ==References==