Pieter Vink (; born 13 March 1967Birthdate confirmation: FIFA official website. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.Town of birth and profile : WorldReferee.com website. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.) is a former Dutch football referee, who also officiated for FIFA and UEFA. He was the first referee to take charge of a match at the "New Wembley Stadium" in 2007.Referee for inaugural match at the "New Wembley", March 24, 2007: TheFA.com website. Retrieved on February 18, 2008. His other occupation was as a police officer, eventually giving this up to become a full-time referee. His main other hobby is golf.
Career Vink began refereeing in 1987, and was elected to the Eredivisie C-List in 1993, progressing to the competition's B-List in 1996 and then becoming a referee on the country's A-List in 2001. dec.Further profile on Vink: Google translation of a KNVB.nl webpage. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.
Internationally, he has been a FIFA referee since 2004, also debuting as a referee in the UEFA Cup in the same year, and then being appointed to the 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship Final at Windsor Park, Belfast, on 29 July 2005, when France defeated England 3–1.England 1 France 3, 2005 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship Final: UEFA official website. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.
He was given the considerable honour of handling the first official match to be played at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium on 24 March 2007, a 'friendly' between England Under-21 and Italy Under-21 which finished 3–3.
In 2007, he refereed his first match in the UEFA Champions League, a qualifying tie between Steaua Bucharest of Romania and BATE Borisov of Belarus,Steaua Bucharest 2 FC BATE 0, UEFA Champions League qualifying round: UEFA official website. Retrieved on February 18, 2008. having been promoted to UEFA's Elite list in July. He went on to handle three more games in the Group stage of the competition in that year. Vink was referee for the Euro 2008 qualifying match between Scotland and Ukraine on 13 October 2007 at Hampden Park, Glasgow, when the Ukrainians were effectively eliminated after a 3–1 defeat.Scotland 3 Ukraine 1, Euro 2008 qualifying match: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved on February 18, 2008. Subsequently, he took charge of Northern Ireland's 2–1 win over Denmark at Windsor Park, Belfast, on 17 November 2007.Northern Ireland 2 Denmark 1, Euro 2008 qualifying match: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved on February 18, 2008.
Vink refereed the all-English Champions League quarter final first leg between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium on 2 April 2008.Arsenal v. Liverpool, UEFA Champions League quarter-final, first leg, April 2, 2008: UEFA official website. Retrieved on March 31, 2008.
Euro 2008 On 19 December 2007 it was announced that Vink would head the Dutch team of officials selected for the Euro 2008 competition proper, held in Austria and Switzerland in summer 2008. in Austria and Switzerland, summer 2008: UEFA official website. Retrieved on February 18, 2008. He refereed the third match of the competition between hosts Austria and Croatia.Austria v. Croatia, referee, Euro 2008: BBC.co.uk website. Retrieved on July 22, 2008.
References