Fröjdfeldt takes UEFA Cup honour

Swedish referee Peter Fröjdfeldt has been appointed as referee for Wednesday's UEFA Cup final between FC Zenit St. Petersburg and Rangers FC at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Previous visit
The  44-year-old Fröjdfeldt will be assisted by compatriots Stefan Wittberg and Henrik Andrén, with the trio having also been chosen as one of the refereeing teams for UEFA EURO 2008™ in Austria and Switzerland. The fourth official will be Martin Ingvarsson, also from Sweden. Fröjdfeldt was last in the north of England to handle the UEFA Champions League quarter-final return leg between Liverpool FC and Arsenal FC at Anfield.

Refereeing rise
An arena manager by profession, the Eskilstuna-based Fröjdfeldt reached the higher levels of the Swedish game in the mid-1990s, made his top-flight bow in 1997 and has passed the 200-match mark in the élite Swedish domestic game. His FIFA international badge followed at the start of 2001. His UEFA Champions League debut came in September 2003 with the meeting of FC Dynamo Kyiv and FC Lokomotiv Moskva.

High-profile appointments
Fröjdfeldt's promotion to UEFA Elite status came in January 2005 and he continued to receive regular appointments at the highest club and international levels, including six FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In 2005/06 Fröjdfeldt – a keen golfer – became a regular face in the UEFA Champions League and the married father of two has become well used to high-profile appointments. Back in Sweden, Fröjdfeldt has taken charge of a number of important Allsvenskan fixtures and officiated at the Scandinavian Royal League final in April 2006, in which FC København defeated Lillestrøm SK 1-0.