Frank De Bleeckere

Frank De Bleeckere
Full name Frank Wermer De Bleeckere
Born (1966-06-01) 1 June 1966
Oudenaarde, Belgium
Domestic
Years League Role
1994–2012 Jupiler League Referee
International
Years League Role
1998–2012 FIFA listed Referee

Frank De Bleeckere (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈfrɑŋk də ˈbleːkərə], born 1 July 1966 in Oudenaarde) is a Belgian former football referee. He had been a referee since 1984, and an international (FIFA) official since 1998.[1] De Bleeckere was refereeing in his first World Cup Finals in Germany, and 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, and was in charge of the Semi Final between Spain and Russia.[2]

Career highlights

International appointments

De Bleeckere made his international refereeing debut on 24 March 2001 in a FIFA World Cup 2002 Qualifier between Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland.

In 2005, he oversaw the FIFA U-17 World Championship Final between Mexico and Brazil. De Bleeckere refereed five games in the tournament, including the final.

One year later, in 2006, he was in charge of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Turkey and Switzerland.

UEFA Champions League

In 2005, De Bleeckere was in charge of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match between Liverpool and Juventus.

During the UEFA Champions League 2006-07 group stage, 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 José Mourinho after sending off Didier Drogba and Asier del Horno controversially in previous meetings.

Later in the tournament, De Bleeckere was appointed by UEFA to referee the semi-final between Milan and Manchester United on 2 May 2007.

In the 2007–08 tournament, he was assigned the first knockout round first leg game between Liverpool and Internazionale. He sent off Inter defender Marco Materazzi for two yellow card offences after 30 minutes, leaving Inter to play with 10 men for the rest of the match. Next, he was appointed for the quarter-final clash between Roma and Manchester United.

In 2008–09, De Bleeckere took charge of the Group E match between Manchester United and Celtic at Old Trafford on 21 October 2008.

In 2009–10, De Bleeckere took charge of the Semi-final match between Barcelona and Inter on 28 April 2010. He was involved in a couple of controversial decisions. He gave Inter midfielder Thiago Motta a red card for an offense on Sergio Busquets. Television replays suggest that Busquets made the most of the contact and promptly rejoined the game after Motta had been sent off. Also, late in the game, De Bleeckere allowed Barcelona's first goal to stand after Gerard Pique was in an offside position when receiving the ball. Later in the match De Bleeckere wrongly disallowed what would have been the winning goal by Barcelona forward Bojan Krkić for a handball by Yaya Toure in the build-up play.

In 2010–11, De Bleeckere was in charge of the second leg of the 2010–11 semi-final match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F.. He controversially ruled out a Real Madrid goal for Gonzalo Higuain in the 46th minute.

2009 UEFA Super Cup

On 28 August 2009, De Bleeckere took charge of the UEFA Super Cup match between the UEFA Champions League winners FC Barcelona and the last UEFA Cup winners FC Shakhtar Donetsk at the Stade Louis II in Monaco.[3]

2006 FIFA World Cup

Group C: Argentina vs Côte d'Ivoire

De Bleeckere issued five yellows during this match, showing cards to, amongst others, Arsenal defender Emmanuel Eboué and then Manchester United defender Gabriel 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.

Group F: Croatia vs Japan

De Bleeckere showed five yellows again, including cards given to Japanese goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and Croatian defender Darijo Srna. Also he awarded a penalty to Croatia.

Second Round: England vs Ecuador

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.

Quarterfinal: Italy vs Ukraine

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, although the second Italian goal, scored by Luca Toni, was under discussion, as Toni was said to be in offside position.

2010 FIFA World Cup

He was preselected as a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[4] He showed a second yellow and inevitably a red card to Loukas Vyntra on the 43rd minute during Switzerland - Greece game that was held on 5 September 2009.[5]

He officiated the match between the United States and Algeria on 23 June.[6]

International career

2002 FIFA World Cup qualification

UEFA Euro 2004 qualification

2003 FIFA World Youth Championship

UEFA Euro 2004

2006 FIFA World Cup qualification

2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship

FIFA World Cup 2006

UEFA Euro 2008 qualification

UEFA Euro 2008

Friendlies

2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Statistics

Event Games Yellow cardRed card Red card
2006 FIFA World Cup 4 19 0 0
UEFA Euro 2008 3 13 0 1
2010 FIFA World Cup 3 15 1 0
UEFA Champions League 47 164 - 7

References

  1. ↑ Rate The Ref - Rate Referee’s Performance in Euro 2008, Premier League, Champions League, UEFA Cup and World Cup campaigns
  2. ↑ Referee Rosetti gets Euro 2008 final, AFP, 24 June 2008
  3. ↑ "De Bleeckere takes Super Cup whistle". UEFA.com. 26 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-26.
  4. ↑ List of prospective 2010 FIFA World Cup referees
  5. ↑ Match report 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers
  6. ↑ Marcus, Jeffrey (21 June 2010). "Referees Talk Openly, but Not About That One Call". The New York Times.

External links

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