John Blankenstein

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John Blankenstein (1986)

John Blankenstein (born February 12, 1949 in De Bilt , Netherlands , † August 25, 2006 in The Hague ) was a Dutch football referee and activist for equal rights for homosexuals and against racism.

Sports career

After his active time as an amateur footballer from 1959 to 1966 at the VCS club in The Hague , John Blankenstein first became a referee in amateur games, then he whistled in professional games from 1979 to 1996. He was FIFA referee from 1985 to 1995 and in this role he headed 88 international matches, the most important of which were the 1992 European Football Championship and the UEFA Cup final between Juventus Turin and Borussia Dortmund a year later .

In 1990 he was nominated by UEFA for the World Cup in Italy, but canceled again by FIFA. The reason given was that he had been seen in a FIFA uniform in a gay bar a few years earlier. On September 12, 1990, he headed the GDR international soccer match in Belgium and thus the last international match in a GDR selection.

In total, he directed 502 games in 17 years.

Sports official

After his career as a referee, he worked for the Royal Netherlands Football Association in Zeist, among other things as an advisor for football rules. He also worked on the National Olympic Committee of the Netherlands, was the Dutch delegate at UEFA and FIFA and on the board of the “ International Fair Play Committee ” (CIFP).

social commitment

John Blankenstein was one of the first Dutch athletes and the first and so far only referee in professional football to openly acknowledge his homosexuality . He was an active member of various anti-discrimination organizations, the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF) and was known to a broad public in the Netherlands. In Germany he became known to a great many people when the Bild newspaper headlined in February 2006: "Now the first gay referee speaks" . In recent years he has also been invited to several events on the subject of " Homophobia in Football ". Shortly before the headline, he had one of his last major international appearances when he played at the second “Unite Against Racism” conference, which was organized by UEFA in cooperation with the Football Against Racism in Europe (FARE) network. ), the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and FC Barcelona at the beginning of February 2006, spoke about his experiences as an openly gay official.

In 2003 he was honored by the " Nederlandse Vereniging voor Integratie van Homoseksualiteit COC " for breaking the taboo of homosexuality in football with the Bob Angelo-penning and was chairman of the COC from January to June 2004. In the summer of the same year he was co-founder of the "Homo LesBische Federatie Nederland (HLBF)", and for a long time its spokesman. In 2005 he was awarded the “Harry Stapelprijs” by the “Nederlandse Culturele Sportbond” for his support in the emancipation of gay and lesbian athletes.

death

In August 2006 he died in a hospital in The Hague after a long-lasting rare kidney disease. After his death became known, the EGLSF paid tribute to him in a letter to the family with the following words:

"John was the personification of the fight against injustice, homophobia and discrimination in and outside of sport."

- EGLSF : queer.de, pinknews.co.uk, August 2006

Before the game between Roda JC Kerkrade and ADO Den Haag , a minute's silence was held in his honor.

Quotes

“Everyone's against the referee anyway, so it doesn't matter if he's also gay. A referee has no fans. "

- John Blankenstein, 2004 : Translated from Tanja Walther: Kick it Out - Homophobia in Football , EGLSF, Amsterdam, Berlin 2006, online as PDF

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d The EFPM Executive Committee - John Blankenstein ( Memento from May 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive ), fairplayeur.com, last change: January 27, 2006
  2. ↑ users.skynet.be/pluto : UEFA CUP , list of finals, last change: May 18, 2006
  3. ↑ Berliner Zeitung : Michael Lenz: Sprint with Strass and Federn , August 7, 1998
  4. ↑ fairplayinternational.org ( Memento of 28 May 2007 at the Internet Archive ): Administration Council , seen on September 2, 2006
  5. ↑ a b c queer.de : First gay soccer referee dead , August 31, 2006
  6. ↑ gaysport.info ( Memento from April 15, 2006 in the Internet Archive ): EGLSF Members , last change date : August 16, 2006
  7. ↑ bild.t-online.de ( Memento of August 21, 2006 in the Internet Archive ): John Blankenstein from Holland - Now the first gay referee speaks , February 18, 2006
  8. ↑ de.farenet.org ( Memento from May 19, 2006 in the Internet Archive ): United Against Racism - event at Camp Nou , January 26, 2006
  9. ↑ a b pinknews.co.uk ( memento of September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ): Marc Shoffman: Europe mourns loss of first openly gay referee , August 30, 2006
  10. ↑ a b nl: John Blankenstein , September 2, 2006
  11. ↑ uefa.com : Dutch referee mourned , August 26, 2006
personal data
SURNAME Blankenstein, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Dutch football referee
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH De Bilt , Netherlands
DATE OF DEATH August 25, 2006
Place of death The Hague , Netherlands