(Reuters) – Bjorn Kuipers will become the first Dutch referee to take charge of a European Championship final when England take on Italy in Sunday’s Wembley showpiece, the continent’s soccer governing body UEFA said yesterday.
Kuipers, who began officiating in the Dutch leagues before working his way up the ranks to become an international referee in 2006, will make his seventh UEFA competition final appearance.
He has previously officiated two Europa League finals and one Champions League final and was also part of the referees’ team at Euro 2012 and 2016 and the last two World Cups.
At this year’s Euros, Kuipers has refereed two group stage matches – Denmark v Belgium and Slovakia v Spain – and the quarter-final between Czech Republic and Denmark.
Kuipers will be joined at Sunday’s final by Dutch assistants Sander van Roekel and Erwin Zeinstra, while Spain’s Carlos Del Cerro Grande will be the fourth official.
Bastian Dankert was named the video assistant referee and will work alongside fellow German assistants Christian Gittelmann and Marco Fritz and Netherlands’ Pol van Boekel.
