Friday, December 17, 2021 at 4:38 PM• Mart van Mourik • Last update: 16:50

Footballers and other athletes are more active than ever on social media in 2021. Top players such as Memphis Depay, Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic give a glimpse into their (private) lives almost daily via Instagram, Twitter or other internet channels. Voetbalzone lists the craziest, most beautiful and most striking posts on social media in the VZ Social section.

Serdar Gözübüyük has been promoted to UEFA Elite Referee, the referee said in a post on Instagram. Gözübüyük calls his entry into the category, which also includes Danny Makkelie, ‘the highest attainable’. “As a twelve-year-old boy, I always had a dream to get as far as possible as a referee. Eredivisie whistle, but an even bigger dream was to become a European FIFA referee and to achieve the highest attainable there: Elite Referee at UEFA. Hard work, trial and error. Now 24 years later I received a message that I have been promoted to the group with the best referees from Europe. I want to thank everyone who has supported me and who has always kept their faith,” Gözübüyük wrote on Instagram.

The referee can count on many congratulations from well-known and footballing Netherlands. Humberto Tan, among others, responds to the post. “Fantastic Serdar, congratulations on this promotion. Rightly so!! And as Max says: keep pushing!”, according to the presenter. “Topper”, responds Andy van der Meijde.