During the last meeting of AFFA Executive Committee held on July 12, 2024, the issue of the chairman of the Referees Committee was discussed, and a positive opinion was given to Belgian Frank de Bleeckere, taking into account his rich international experience and professional activity.
There was a need to discuss some terms of the contract. Since an agreement was reached on those issues, a 3-year contract was signed with the Belgian FIFA referee.
Note that Frank de Bleeckere will lead the training camp of Misli Premier League and League I referees from July 28.
About Frank de Bleeckere:
FRANK DE BLEECKERE
He was born on 01.07.1966.
In 1998-2011, he was assigned to international games as a FIFA referee.
He works as an UEFA Referee observer.
He is an instructor of UEFA CORE Programme (UEFA Centre of Refereeing Excellence).
He is a Mentor of UEFA Referee Talent.
He is a member of UEFA Referee Development Panel.
He worked as the Deputy Technical Director Refereeing of the Royal Belgian Football Association.
He was a head of the Referee Development department at the Royal Belgian Football Association.
Career highlights
He had been a referee since 1984.
For 17 years, he officiated matches in the Belgian Pro League (242 matches in total).
He was chosen as a referee of the year in Belgium 7 times.
He was awarded the Golden Whistle Award 6 times.
In 2009, he was chosen as the third best referee in the world.
He was a referee for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany and for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.
He officiated the matches of the UEFA European championships in 2004 in Portugal, in 2008 in Austria and Switzerland (including the semi-final match between Russia and Spain).
In 2005, he refereed the games of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Peru.
He refereed 47 games of the UEFA Champions League.
He officiated the semi-final games of the UEFA Champions League 3 times (2006, 2010, and 2011).
He refereed the semi-final games of the UEFA Europa League 3 times (2007, 2008, 2009).
In 2009, he officiated the final game of the UEFA Super Cup between FC Barcelona and FC Shakhtar Donetsk.
In 2009, he refereed the games of the FIFA U-21World Cup in Egypt.
He refereed the final game of the Belgian Cup 3 times.
He was awarded a special award in Belgium in 2011 for his successful career.
He worked as a Referee observer during the UEFA EURO-2024.
