Danny Makkelie will be the referee on Wednesday at the meeting between England and Denmark in the semi-final of the European Championship, UEFA officially announced on Monday. Almost a week ago, the Dutch arbitrator was also present at a duel between England, which settled with Germany (2-0) in the eighth final. With the appointment of Makkelie for the semi-finals, the chances of colleague Björn Kuipers for the final of the European Championship next Sunday increase.
It is already the fourth time that Makkelie is used by UEFA during this European Championship. In addition to the squatter between England and Germany in London, the Dutchman also whistled the group matches between Turkey and Italy (0-3) and Finland and Russia (0-1). It is not often that a referee is assigned so many matches during a final round, which indicates that the European Football Association is satisfied with the quality that Makkelie delivers during the European Championship.
Turkish media: Kuipers whistles final thanks to UEFA ‘favorite policy’
Fuss in Turkey about the possible appointment of the Dutchman for the European Championship final.
Makkelie will be assisted at Wembley on Wednesday evening by his regular assistants Hessel Steegstra and Jan de Vries. Pol van Boekel acts as VAR in the semi-final match between the English and Danes, while Kevin Blom and the German Christian Gittelman are used as assistant VAR. Romanian Ovidiu Hategan is the fourth official. The game starts Wednesday evening at 9 p.m.
That Kuipers will probably be awarded the European Championship final is a thorn in the side of the Turkish media. The newspaper fanatic talks about the consequences of ‘a lobbying effect’ by UEFA and also drops the term ‘favoritism’ when talking about the final. It is incomprehensible that Turkish referee Cüneyt Çakir, record holder with nine European Championship matches, has already been sent home by the European Football Association. UEFA chooses Kuipers because it is his last final tournament as a referee, is the verdict. That is not true, by the way, because Kuipers indicated last month that he has not yet made a decision. “I said in 2018 that it would be my last tournament, we are three years later and we are still here. I’m fit, I feel good, no aches and pains so I never say never again.”
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