Frank de Bleeckere

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Frank de Bleeckere (born July 1, 1966 in Oudenaarde) is a Belgian football referee. He has been a referee since January 1, 1998, and an international (FIFA) official since 2001. De Bleeckere was refereeing in his first World Cup Finals in Germany, having had to pass a late fitness test following injury. He has been appointed by UEFA as one of twelve referees to officiate UEFA Euro 2008 matches.

1 Career Highlights
- 1.1 International Appointments
- 1.2 UEFA Champions League
2 FIFA World Cup 2006
3 International career
4 External links

[edit] Career Highlights

[edit] International Appointments

De Bleeckere made his international refereeing debut on the 24 March 2001 in a FIFA World Cup 2002 Qualifier between Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland. The away side ran out 4 - 0 winners.

In 2005, he oversaw the FIFA U-17 World Championship Final between Mexico and Brazil. Mexico ran out 3 - 0 winners, going in at half time with a two goal lead, and making sure of victory in the second half. De Bleeckere refereed 5 games in the tournament, including the final.

One year later in 2006, he was in charge of the FIFA World Cup 2006 qualifier between Turkey and Switzerland. This was an unusual game, with Turkey running out 4 - 2 winners. However, it was Switzerland who actually qualified for the finals, and the game ended in violence on and off the pitch.

[edit] UEFA Champions League

In 2005, de Bleeckere was in charge of the UEFA Champions League quarter final match between Liverpool and Juventus, a game which saw the English side win 2 - 1 on aggregate.

During the UEFA Champions League 2006-07 group stages, de Bleeckere was chosen for the match between Chelsea and Barcelona. The teams had fiery encounters in the past two seasons, with referees Anders Frisk and Terje Hauge both facing criticism from Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho after sending off Didier Drogba and Asier Del Horno controversially in previous meetings. This match was free from controversy, with Didier Drogba scoring the only goal in a 1-0 victory for the English side.

Later in the tournament, De Bleeckere was appointed by UEFA to referee the semi-final between A.C. Milan and Manchester United on May 2, 2007. AC Milan won the match and progressed to the final, where they beat Liverpool.

In the 2007/2008 tournament he was assigned the last sixteen first leg game between Liverpool and Internazionale. He harshly sent off Inter defender Marco Materazzi for his second of two soft yellow cards after 30 minutes, leaving Inter to play with 10 men for the rest of the tie. Inter inevitably lost 2-0. Many claim Materazzi's reputation preceded itself. Next, he was appointed for the Quarter-Final clash Between A.S. Roma & Manchester United.

[edit] FIFA World Cup 2006

[edit] Group C: Argentina v. Côte d'Ivoire

Argentina were two nil up by half time, through Hernán Crespo and Javier Saviola strikes. However, World cup newcomers Ivory Coast grabbed a consolation in the 82nd minute thanks to captain Didier Drogba, to set up a tense finalé. De Bleeckere issued five yellows, showing cards to, amongst others, Arsenal defender Eboue and then Manchester United defender Heinze. De Bleeckere got very good reviews for his performance during this game; both his assistant referees made a number of close, but correct decisions.

[edit] Group F: Croatia v. Japan

A rather disappointing game that saw no goals. De Bleeckere showed five yellows again, including cards given to Japanese goalkeeper Kawaguchi and Croatian star Srna. Also he awarded a penalty to Croatia.

[edit] Second Round: England v. Ecuador

In this second round match, England ran out winners - eventually - thanks to a superb David Beckham free kick. Paul Robinson and Jamie Carragher were booked for time wasting, and John Terry for dangerous play. For Ecuador, three players made their way into the referee's book. Because of this result, England progressed to the quarter finals, setting up a tie with Portugal.

[edit] Quarterfinal: Italy v. Ukraine

Frank De Bleeckere refereed the match between Italy and Ukraine and had few troubles on the pitch, the match featured very few harsh tackles and De Bleeckere only had to hand out three yellow cards. Again, most people saw his performance as very good, however the second Italian goal, made by Luca Toni was under discussion as Toni was said to be in offside position.