Who is England vs Sweden VAR official Danny Makkelie, and how many World Cups has the Dutchman refereed?
OFFICIAL Danny Makkelie is back on the world stage and is seen as one of the best referees on the planet.
He takes care Spain’s massive group stage against Germany in the World Cup.
The Dutchman, a former policeman, was in charge of England’s Euro 2020 semi-final between England and Denmark.
He also refereed Finland’s defeat to Russia in the group stage.
Has he officiated at major tournaments before?
A former Police Inspector, Makkelie will not accept any foul play in the Wembley match.
He was first listed as a FIFA referee in 2011 and, at 38, still has plenty of seasons under his belt.
Prior to this tournament, Makkelie refereed the 2020 Europa League final between Sevilla and Inter Milan, but this is his first major international tournament in the middle.
What else has he done so far?
Makkelie made his Eredivise debut in 2009 and has made over 180 appearances over nine seasons.
He took charge of five Champions League matches in 2019, including the first quarter-final as Barcelona beat AS Roma 4-1.
The Dutchman was berated by Italians boss Eusebio di Francesco for denying them a penalty in that match, but that proved irrelevant as Roma heroically won the second leg 3-0 to progress on away goals.
Makkelie has also been involved in the Europe League, refereeing 11 matches from 2012 to 2017.
Has he used VAR before?
The Dutchman has been involved in two major controversies with the VAR system.
Makkelie became the first referee to send off a player using the technique after he changed his yellow card decision to a sending off against Willem II’s Anouar Kalu in a 2016 KNVB Cup match.
He was also involved in one of the most famous and controversial uses of VAR when he took charge of the Dutch Supercup final between Feyenoord and Vitesse.
During that match Feyenoord had a goal disallowed and a penalty awarded to Vitesse instead after a VAR review showed that Makkelie should have given the goal kick before the goal was scored.
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