John Blankenstein
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| Full name | John Blankenstein | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
12 February 1949 De Bilt, Netherlands |
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| Died | 25 August 2006 (aged 57) The Hague, Netherlands |
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| Other occupation | Head of 'Referee-Affairs Professional Football' of the Royal Dutch Football Association | ||
| Domestic | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1966–1979 | Eerste Divisie | Referee | |
| 1979–1996 | Eredivisie | Referee | |
| International | |||
| Years | League | Role | |
| 1985–1995 | FIFA listed | Referee | |
John Blankenstein (12 February 1949 in De Bilt – 25 August 2006 in The Hague) was a Dutch football referee and gay rights activist. He was notable for being one of the first homosexual athletes to come out in the Netherlands.
As a child Blankenstein moved with his family to the city of The Hague, where he later played football at local club VCS.
Since he failed at developing a successful career as a professional football player, at age 22 he started a career as referee working for the Royal Dutch Football Association. From 1980 on he was referee in 502 matches of professional football, which he continued doing until the end of his career. From 1985 until 1995 Blankenstein worked as a referee in 88 international matches, and as such he was on the list of referees of the International Federation of Association Football, the FIFA.
Highlights of his career were the UEFA Cup final in 1993 and being chosen for the 1992 European Championship.
In 1994 Blankenstein was selected to referee the 1994 UEFA Champions League Final between AC Milan and FC Barcelona, to be replaced by Englishman Philip Don only a few days before the match. The contents of the official decision were never made public, but it was said that it was because Johan Cruijff and Ronald Koeman (both FC Barcelona) were both from the Netherlands. Blankenstein himself later stated it had been because of him being openly homosexual.
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