Kevin Blom went from heaven to hell after he wrongly awarded Czech Republic a penalty at Hampden Park, which costs Scotland a place at the European Championships. Now he talks about the incident with Algemeen Dagblad, a Dutch newspaper.
Check out the video and read further below (if it’s not playing at right moment, check at 7m25s):
“If I had extra assistants at that moment, my career would have gone a different way”, Blom told the newspaper. The Dutch referee officiated European Championships Qualifier between Scotland and Czech Republic on 3rd of September 2011. In the dying minutes of the game he whistled for a foul on Jan Rezek and gave his team a penalty. Czech Republic scored an important equaliser (2:2). “I’ve been fooled”, Blom says. “While watching the video footage of the game, my world collapsed.”
Blom says that this decision has influenced his life very much. “I’ve been feeling down for a long time. It eventually took more than a year. But I had to go on. When you referee a match you need to clear your head.”
The refereeing team was about to go have some dinner in town, but was advised to stay at the hotel. Kevin Blom watched the dvd of the match immediately and fast-forwarded to the incident in the last minutes. “I saw it was a dive. I couldn’t eat during dinner and didn’t even sleep. You’re lying there, thinking, sweating.” Many things crossed his mind. “Will I miss the European Championships now? Will this influence my career?” Two days later he Pierluigi Collina called how he did and also told him he would be withdrawn for his next Champions League match. Then he knew.Björn Kuipers went to the European Championships and Blom also relegated to a lower international refereeing level.
Blom says he has closed the subject now and he’s still ambitious as a referee. He still wants to get the best appointments. “I’m doing fine now. No strange things during last season and I can’t wait for the start of next season.”
What more justification do we need for video replay???
Refs get so much abuse but people forget they are only human and prone to making mistakes like the rest of us.
Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via @dutchreferee)
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
@STVGrant @dutchreferee remember wullie collum the ref who gave a penalty when his back was turned,he was rewarded with a cup final
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
@STVGrant @dutchreferee really interesting piece that
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
@STVGrant @dutchreferee And what happened to the player the conned the poor guy? Still playing and earning a fortune?
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
@STVGrant @dutchreferee looking bk at that just infuriates me! Shame on the ref tho but c’mon
AR right side of screen, was HIS call/confirmation. He was in position to make that call. Two people made that call. did anyone else notice that?
Good point, troyf. I think the ref feels responsible although the assistant would definately advised him on the situation.
@STVGrant @dutchreferee brilliant day!
This still hurts, the Czech Republic used to a country i always supported in tournaments #FuckRezek http://t.co/pAtmxzbOEm
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
@STVGrant @dutchreferee that was only half of the mistake, him then not giving the penalty for us straight after was just as bad!!
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
Vriendelijk van Schotse journalist (>18.000 volgers) om naar mn blog te linken. Fout Blom zijn ze nog niet vergeten http://t.co/AaubWVVbQq
Good! RT @STVGrant: Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/k9xIgN0NZn (via @dutchreferee)
@STVGrant @dutchreferee
nice to know he was only concerned about his own carreer!
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember the ref who gave penalty for the dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/r9BqLCpKng (via @dutchreferee)
@RealMacKaySTV @STVGrant @dutchreferee what’s worse he denied us one minutes later!
Kevin Blom: from heaven to hell in Scotland – http://t.co/qsMuWOWrT5 http://t.co/qsMuWOWrT5
@RealMacKaySTV @STVGrant @dutchreferee my heart bleeds for him.
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @RealMacKaySTV: RT @STVGrant: Remember the ref who gave penalty for the dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/r9BqLCpKng (v…
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @dutchreferee: Kevin Blom: from heaven to hell in Scotland. He talks about 2011 incident. http://t.co/xtJxmkBuyc
“@dutchreferee: Interesting for @Hampden_museum: Ref of 2011 penalty incident which costed Scotland Euro 2012 talks http://t.co/Ojccky2nuq”
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
@STVGrant Funny thing is I don’t actually remember the referee getting that much criticism. It was all towards the Czech. @dutchreferee
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @STVGrant: Remember Kevin Blom, ref who gave penalty for Jan Rezek’s dive v Scotland? “My world collapsed.” http://t.co/Na66mdY6Pi (via …
RT @dutchreferee: Interview with referee Kevin Blom about what a mistake can do to you. He’s ready for new season now: http://t.co/xtJxmkBu…
RT @dutchreferee: Interview with referee Kevin Blom about what a mistake can do to you. He’s ready for new season now: http://t.co/xtJxmkBu…
“Watching the video footage of the game, my world collapsed” – Great account of how wrong call can affect a #referee http://t.co/UA583I0yem
RT @RefereeWebsite: “Watching the video footage of the game, my world collapsed” – Great account of how wrong call can affect a #referee h…
RT @RefereeWebsite: “Watching the video footage of the game, my world collapsed” – Great account of how wrong call can affect a #referee h…
RT @RefereeWebsite: “Watching the video footage of the game, my world collapsed” – Great account of how wrong call can affect a #referee h…
The ref had every chance to make amends 1 minute later when a real penalty occurred at the other end. He was fired because he made 2 serious errors. Funny how nothing is ever said about that. Mr Blom your career is finished because FIFA are struggling to come to terms with the modern game without having to support poor decisions.
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