Leo van der Kroft passes on

Dutch football is mourning the loss of former international referee and UEFA Referees Committee member Leo van der Kroft, who has passed away at the age of 87.

Born in The Hague on 2 February 1929, Leo van der Croft began his refereeing career at amateur level in the Netherlands in 1959, and joined the professional ranks in 1966. He served as an international referee from 1970 to 1976, before heading the Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB) referees’ committee for 14 years until 1990.

A committed believer in passing on crucial knowledge to young referees, Leo van der Kroft was also a founding member of the Dutch Professional Referees Association (BSBV), and served within the KNVB federal administration. He was also named a KNVB 'bondsridder' (federal knight).

He was a member of the UEFA Referees Committee from 1986 to 2000, and also worked for three decades as a UEFA match delegate.

Former UEFA Referees Committee colleague Ken Ridden paid a warm tribute. "Refereeing has lost a tremendous stalwart," he said. "I would also mention Leo's support for women's football in particular. At the first Women's EURO to feature only female officials, which took place in Norway and Sweden [in 1997], Leo was a tremendous confidante to the referees and assistant referees, and contributed greatly to the success of the competition."