Ignace van Swieten
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Ignace van Swieten (born January 5, 1943 in Semarang , † May 4, 2005 in Gran Canaria ) was a Dutch football referee . Van Swieten was the first referee in Dutch professional football to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality .
Van Swieten was born in a Japanese prison camp near Semarang in the Dutch East Indies .
He was a referee in the Dutch professional league from 1976 and became a FIFA referee in 1983 . In the 1980s he was one of the best referees in his country and was voted “Referee of the Year” in 1984. His career came to an abrupt end in 1990 when he was brutally mistreated in his home by a drug addict. The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) made Van Swieten an honorary member in 1991.
In recent years he has worked for the KNVB as a football lecturer at its academy. Among other things, he led referee courses in Suriname , the Netherlands Antilles , Kenya and Zambia .
In March 2005 van Swieten's health deteriorated during a stay in Kenya. He traveled to Gran Canaria to recover , but died there on May 4, 2005 at the age of 62 from the long-term effects of his injuries.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Swieten, Ignace van |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Dutch football referee |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 5, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | near Semarang , Dutch East Indies |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 4, 2005 |
| Place of death | Gran Canaria , Spain |