Referee’s car burned out on way to match

Dutch referee Richard Liesveld could not referee his match yesterday because his car got on fire on the way to the football match Roda JC – Vitesse in Dutch top league. The referee’s car burned out completely.

Liesveld heared a strange noise while driving so he stopped at the first gas station, Dutch FA’s press officer said. He noticed nothing at first glance and wanted to continue, but then people who were near to the car warned him that his car was burning from underneath. The referee could get out safely, but was not able to take his referee equipment with him.

A witness says on Twitter that they couldn’t get closer (see picture above) because glass was going everywhere.

The referee talked about Twitter about the incident. “I was startled enormously. It’s so surreal if you see the car you just have driven in burned down in just five minutes”, tweets Liesveld.

Het is allemaal heel onwerkelijk als je in 5 min je auto ziet afbranden, waarmee je net komt aanrijden.

Dutch FA found Ed Janssen able to officiate that match, so players didn’t have to go back home without playing. Police is investigating the case. Dutch FA thinks it’s just a technical problem in the car and not something which is planned by angry football fans.

Supercup stadium turns yellow with referees

The Dutch FA and sponsor insurance company ARAG gave all Dutch referees the chance to visit the Supercup for free. All referees will get a yellow Nike referee shirt, so one part of the Amsterdam Arena will turn yellow tonight. Would be a nice view when supercup stadium turns yellow because of all the referees.

Photo from ARAG who'll sponsor all Dutch referees with a yellow Nike referee shirt.

Photo from ARAG who’ll sponsor all Dutch referees with a yellow Nike referee shirt.

The Dutch Supercup will be refereed by Richard Liesveld. He will be assisted by assistants Dave Goossens and Hessel Steegstra. Fourth official is Dennis Higler en extra assistants are Reinold Wiedemeijer and Ed Janssen. It’s the first time during an official match in The Netherlands that extra assistants are appointed.

UPDATE with reactions after the match

Dutch director of amateur football: “The Dutch FA is constantly promoting sportsmanship and respect and referees have a very important role. We want to stress how important they are with this campaign. Giving them a proper outfit will help with creating respect.”

Marc van Erven, CEO of sponsor Arag: “Using a referee shirt like the professionals will give amateur referees more authority, which makes them operate better on the pitch.”

And I also got interviewed on KNVB TV (YouTube service by the Dutch FA): “It shows some appreciation toward the referees. That’s very good. It’s very important for referees to wear a professional outfit. That’s what all refs need to take care of. It gives a referee some personal appeal towards the players that he wears neat clothing, he’s taken care of his appearance. I think that’s something which helps in getting more respect.”

Me during the interview for KNVB tv. It's in Dutch. You can see it by clicking the image.

Me during the interview for KNVB tv. It’s in Dutch. You can see it by clicking the image.

Supercup referee per country

Referees who are appointed for the national supercups. A supercup referee overview per country:

The Netherlands
The Dutch Supercup will be refereed by Richard Liesveld. He will be assisted by assistants Dave Goossens and Hessel Steegstra. Fourth official is Dennis Higler en extra assistants are Reinold Wiedemeijer and Ed Janssen. It’s the first time during an official match in The Netherlands that extra assistants are appointed. “It’s the start of the season and there’s immediately a prize to win. For the fans, clubs and players and also for me and my team a very nice match to start the season with”, Liesveld says to KNVB, the Dutch FA. “It’s the first match in The Netherlands with extra assistants on the backline, which makes it extra special.” Liesveld was extra assistant himself when referee Björn Kuipers officiated the Europa League final.

Belgium

The Belgian Super cup was refereed by Joeri Van de Velde. The match between RSC Anderlecht en KRC Genk ended in a 1-0 win for Anderlecht.

Germany
The German Supercup between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will be refereed by Dr. Jochen Drees. His assistants will be Tobias Christ (Münchweiler/Rodalb) and Christian Gittelmann (Albisheim). Fourth official will be Guido Kleve from Nordhorn. The match will be held on 27th of August at 8.30 pm (CET).

France
The French Supercup between the champion of the Ligue 1 (Paris Saint Germain) and the cup winner (Girondins Bordeaux) will be officiated by Belgian referee Jérome Efong Nzolo. Remarkable detail: the match will be held in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, the country where Nzolo was born.

The teams were surprised by the decision of the French Football Association. Nzolo was the best referee of Belgium in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2013. He’ll be assisted by Evarist Menkouande (Cameroon), Sylvain Mouala (Gabon) fourth official Eric Otogo (Gabon).

Got this info so fast thanks to a Belgian referee blogger who send me an e-mail. Thanks! Check out her refereeing blog.

If you know who’ll be refereeing the Supercup in your country, contact me via Facebook, Twitter or send an e-mail to dutchreferee @ gmail.com.

Liesveld got sneaky kick by Kiev official

Everything seemed normal: Dutch referee team shook hands with players and officials of Dinamo Kiev and Sporting Braga after yesterday’s match in Europa League. But take a better look at the the Ukrainian official who kicks fourth offficial Richard Liesveld in the ass.

He sneaked away, but an Ukrainian press agency got it on tape. Click this video link: http://video.meta.ua/3406956.video. During the match head referee Björn Kuipers showed Andrei Shevchenko two yellow cards in ten minutes, which caused irritation amongst the Kiev officials.

Pol van Boekel promoted on international list

Dutch referee Pol van Boekel has been promoted to category two on the international refereeing list. He’s on the Uefa list since 2007. Uefa doesn’t want to publish the full list at this moment.

The 35-year-old Van Boekel made his international debut during the U17 match Slovakia-Serbia on 26 March 2008. He’s officiated 19 official international games, including five Europa League matches.

Dutch international referees:
Björn Kuipers and Kevin Blom on the Elite List.
Eric Braamhaar on the Premier list.
Bas Nijhuis and Pol van Boekel on the category two list.
Richard Liesveld is a category three referee.
Danny Makkelie is on the cat. 4 list.

Pieter Vink, who was on the Elite List, stopped because he wants to give young refs a chance and because he got death threats via his daughter’s lunchbox.