-
Björn Kuipers: from whining player to top class referee
Björn Kuipers was a football player every referee would hate. The 16-year-old captain of his team couldn’t stop whining at the man in black about wrong decisions. Not once, but e-ve-ry match. As a player he was the complete opposite of the referee who got appointed for the 2014 Champions League final due to his cool and calm style of refereeing. After Leo Horn (1957 and 1962), Charles Corver (1978) and Dick Jol (2001) the 41-year-old Kuipers is only the fourth Dutch referee who’ll referee the final of the biggest club competition in Europe. In 2021 he reached his pinnacle, as first ever Dutch referee in a final of a…
-
Referee as Athlete of the Year
When can we expect it: a referee as Athlete of the Year in The Netherlands? Dutch sports organisation NOC*NSF will announces the male and female athletes of 2014 on December 12. All World, European and Olympic Champions are automatically nominated in The Netherlands. But when is a referee qualified to earn a nomination? Kuipers told when he heared about his CL final appointment: “Being on the pitch during the Champions League final is the highest achievement in football for players and also for referees.” Is only a World Cup final enough for such a prize? That’s what happened to Nicola Rizzoli who won was Athlete of the Year in Italy.…
-
Sander van Roekel happy in shadow of Kuipers
In 1980 Sander van Roekel was a promising striker in the u8 team of SKV, but he got into refereeing very early in his career. When he entered professional football as referee, a member of Van Roekel’s football club wrote on the club’s website: “If Sander Van Roekel will reach the top of professional football, and if people maybe even will be talking about him in Europe, remains to be seen.” Start as professional referee Sander van Roekel was also with Björn Kuipers, Bas Nijhuis and Pol van Boekel on the C-list of Dutch referees, talented refs who just joined professional football. “But I soon realised they were better”, Van…
-
Björn Kuipers will referee Champions League final
Björn Kuipers will referee Champions League final between between Real Madrid CF and Club Atlético de Madrid. Uefa just announced it on their website: “In Lisbon, Kuipers will be assisted by fellow countrymen Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra. The fourth official will be Turkey’s Cüneyt Çakır, and the two additional assistant referees, Pol van Boekel and Richard Liesveld, are also from the Netherlands. A Dutch reserve assistant referee – Angelo Boonman – completes the lineup of the refereeing team.” “It’s a dream come true”, says Björn on the website of the Dutch FA. “Being on the pitch during the Champions League final is the highest achievement in football for…
-
Photo series: World Cup preparation for referees
Photo series: World Cup preparation for referees. The photo’s are made Lorenzo Fontani, a Sky Sport journalist. He published them on Twitter and I embedded them in the blog post below. All referees doing their excercises. #arbitri #Mondial2014 chi riconosce quello in first piano? #regoliamoci #zurigo #fifa #referee #meeting @SkySport pic.twitter.com/KftTaguvAy — Lorenzo Fontani (@lorenzofontani) March 27, 2014 Photo of Japanese referee Yuichi Nishimura. Per cultori della materia… #regoliamoci #arbitri #zurigo #fifa #referee #meeting pic.twitter.com/ipAxzu9ubA — Lorenzo Fontani (@lorenzofontani) March 27, 2014 Nicola Rizzoli check the video screen during the world cup preparation for referees. #Rizzoli si rivede alla #moviola ! #arbitri #Mondial2014 #regoliamoci #zurigo #fifa #referee #meeting @SkySport pic.twitter.com/1Iq9JDaX6K…
-
Björn Kuipers’ 2013 in 3 important matches
Björn Kuipers’2013 was very special. He had some very good matches and officiated the 2013 Confederations Cup final, a Champions League semi-final and the Europa League final. He also made a very brave call in the World Cup Qualifying match between Poland and Montenegro. He talks about his 2013 in an interview with Dutch newspaper Volkskrant. Björn Kuipers: 3 video’s of 3 important decisions from Kuipers in 2013 24-4-2013: Dortmund – Real Madrid A Champions League semi-final. Dortmund won this first round match with 4-1. Kuipers talks about a penalty incident in the 41st minute: “Borussia leads with 1-0. Attacker Marco Reus runs witht he ball into the penalty area…
-
Björn Kuipers to referee Confederations Cup final
Björn Kuipers is appointed as referee of the Confederations Cup final between Brazil and Spain next Sunday. His assistants (as always) are Sander van Roekel en Erwin Zeinstra. The refereeing team refereed a group stage match between Nigeria – Uruguay at the Confederations Cup. Kuipers and his assistants also officiated the Europa League final between Benfica and Chelsea. The match will start at 7pm local time on Sunday 30th of June in the Maracana-stadium of Rio de Janeiro. Kuipers saw the Europa League final as a bonus. This is the extra bonus for Björn Kuipers. He was very happy with his refereeing this year, he said earlier this year on…
