Royal Dutch Football Association

Royal Dutch Football Association
UEFA
Founded 1889
FIFA affiliation 1904
UEFA affiliation 1954
President Michael van Praag (2008–)

The Royal Dutch Football Association (Dutch: Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond [Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈneːdərˌlɑntsə ˈvudbɑlˌbɔnt]], or KNVB [ˌkaːʔɛnveːˈbeː]) is the governing body of football in Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's[1] and women's national teams. Along with its Belgian counterpart, the KNVB also organises the BeNe League, the top women's league in both countries. The KNVB is based in the central municipality of Zeist. It is the single largest sports association in the Netherlands.[2]

In 1889 the Nederlandschen Voetbal- en Athlestischen Bond was founded. Due to certain disagreements several football clubs ended their association with it and together to form Koninklijke Belgische Voetbalbond (KBVB) which was later renamed to present name.[3] It was one of the founding members of FIFA in 1904 and the first non-British football association in Europe.[4] The first Dutch football club was formed in 1879 in Haarlem.[5] The Netherlands Football League Championship had already existed for a decade unofficially when the association was founded. The KNVB strongly disapproved the professionalism of football in 1909. It said that "it will protest against it by all means necessary."[6] In 2012 KNVB launched an 11-point action plan, called 'Football for Everyone' to promote gay football players in coming out. It released a 30-second video named 'Gay? It doesn't matter'; prepared by broadcaster BNN. The video was also broadcast during the Dutch national football's teams World Cup qualifier match against Andorra held in October 2012.[7]

During FIFA World Cup 2014 it collaborated with Royal Philips to open six football clinics across Brazil. Bert van Oostveen is the current General Secretary of KNVB.[2]

References

  1. ↑ Nicolae Sfetcu (2014). 2012 UEFA European Football Championship Guide. Nicolae Sfetcu. p. 61. GGKEY:06GKLP6TERK.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Philips partners with the Royal Dutch Football Association to kick- off a series of football clinics across Brazil". Philips Newscenter. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
  3. ↑ Sean Hamil; Simon Chadwick (2010). Managing Football: An International Perspective. Routledge. p. 411. ISBN 978-1-85617-544-9.
  4. ↑ David Laine. Facts About Association Football - History Timeline. Lulu.com. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-4716-1231-2.
  5. ↑ John Nauright; Charles Parrish (2012). Sports Around the World: History, Culture, and Practice. ABC-CLIO. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-59884-300-2.
  6. ↑ Jacco van Uden (2004). Organisation and Complexity: Using Complexity Science to Theorise Organisational Aliveness. Universal-Publishers. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-58112-222-0.
  7. ↑ Comiteau, Lauren (12 October 2012). "Out of the closet and on to the pitch". Radio Netherlands Worldwide. Retrieved 15 September 2014.

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