Björn Kuipers has joined the UEFA referee committee. The 48-year-old Dutchman decided to stop as arbitrator last summer after the whistle for the European Championship final and the match for the Johan Cruijff Scale between Ajax and PSV (0-4). In the referee committee, Kuipers will succeed Frenchman Marc Batta, who is leaving after eleven years.
After the European Championship final between England and Italy, Kuipers did not rule out that he would whistle at another final tournament in the future, but then announced that he would stop after the game for the Johan Cruijff Scale. So now he is going to work for the UEFA referee committee, which consists of five members. The Italian Roberto Rosetti is the head of the committee, which in addition to Kuipers also consists of the Scotsman Hugh Dallas, Vlado Sajn from Slovenia and the Czech Dagmar Damkovà. Among other things, the referee committee is involved in the appointment of referees for European competitions and the supervision of the arbitrators.
Kuipers had a glorious career with many highlights as a referee. He whistled the final of the Champions League in 2014 and the final of the Europa League in 2013 and 2018. In addition, he was also active in two World Cups and three European Championships. In total, Kuipers whistled 576 games in his career. Five years ago he published a book with which the former top referee wanted to give an insight into the profession. In December 2020, like Danny Makkelie, he could be seen in the UEFA docuseries ‘Man in the middle’.
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