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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…
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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…
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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…
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Björn Kuipers to referee Europa League final 2012/2013
Björn Kuipers will officiate the Europa League final in Amsterdam, says KNVB (Dutch FA). The referee from The Netherlands will also go to the Confederations Cup in Brazil this summer. Kuipers will work the final with assistant referees Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra. He works with them each match during the Dutch football season as a real refereeing team. The extra assistants will be Pol van Boekel and Richard Liesveld. German referee Felix Brych will be the fourth official in the final which will be held in the Amsterdam Arena. It’s the first “home match” for a Champions League final referee. I tried to get in touch with Björn…
