Dutchman to take charge as England bid for first semi-final since 1990
Thursday 5 July 2018 14:29, UK
Dutchman Bjorn Kuipers will referee England's World Cup quarter-final against Sweden on Saturday.
The last-eight tie in Samara will be the 45-year-old's fourth game at Russia 2018, and the seventh World Cup clash of his career having officiated three matches at the 2014 World Cup.
Kuipers has crossed paths with England in the past, overseeing their opening game in Brazil four years ago - a 2-1 defeat to Italy in Manaus.
Born in the city of Oldenzaal in 1973, Kuipers, studied business at university and has gone on to forge a multi-million-pound chain of supermarkets across the Netherlands called Jumbo.
The son of an amateur referee, Kuipers followed his father's footsteps into football in 2002, and he has been as successful on the pitch as he remains off it.
Kuipers has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2006, a UEFA Elite official since 2009 and is regarded as one of Europe's best officials, with more than 250 Eredivisie games under his belt.
He took charge of this year's Europa League final having officiated in the 2014 Champions League final and the 2013 Confederations Cup final.
Kuipers has overseen three games at this summer's World Cup. The first, Uruguay's group-stage victory over Egypt in Ekaterinburg, passed without incident but his second was full of controversy.
VAR intervened to prevent Kuipers awarding Brazil a penalty in their clash with Costa Rica after a theatrical dive from Neymar had duped the Dutchman to point to the spot.
The overturned decision sparked wild protests from the ill-behaved Paris Saint-Germain forward - Kuipers was firm in his response, reportedly instructing Neymar to "shut up" or face being booked.
The drama continued in Kuipers' next assignment as hosts Russia knocked 2010 winners Spain out of the tournament.
The game saw Kuipers award a penalty for the first time, penalising Gerard Pique for handball, but he and his colleagues in the VAR booth drew criticism for failing to award Spain a penalty of their own after Sergio Ramos and Gerard Pique were hauled to the ground in the area in extra-time.
In total, Kuipers has given out eight yellow cards in the three games he has officiated but has yet to issue a red card - from an England perspective, let's hope that continues!
Four England players are on a yellow card and will need to avoid another booking on Saturday, which would rule them out of the semi-final should England progress.
They are Jordan Henderson, Jesse Lingard, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Kyle Walker. Yellow cards are wiped after the quarter-final stage to ensure players do not miss the final.
