John Blankenstein was born on 12 February 1949 in De Bilt, a small town in Holland. Over time, the family moved to The Hague and there he began his career as a referee, first in amateur and then in the professional league. His good performances earned him the appointment as international, a merit that led him to referee parties in different European countries.
His sexual orientation was never a secret. Not for his family, not for the world of sports. In an environment that is still macho and homophobic like football – which was even more so in the 1980s and 1990s – the Dutchman knew how to build an outstanding career. "Sometimes fans would yell things at him, but he didn't think it was because he was gay; just because he was a referee. He was very relaxed on the subject and said that it was not personal, that in those moments he was concentrating on the game and that they wanted to distract him with the things that were yelled at him. The only thing he said was that, if one day a player looked him in the eye and said something about that subject, then it would be personal”, said Karin Blankentsein, John's sister, in a phone chat with Infobae. Refereeing games in the Netherlands, England or Germany didn't bring John much trouble. The concern for his family was when he had to go to Russia, a country that has historically had discriminatory policies towards the LGBTIQ + community. However, in those years there was still no Internet like today and the news regarding the referee's sexual orientation did not reach that far. In fact, in Russia, the Dutchman experienced some unusual situations such as the time when the leaders of a club invited him to a luxurious dinner with many women. The objective of those leaders was to tempt him with those companions and then to charge for them on the playing field. They never even thought that the referee could actually like boys.
Blankenstein had a good career and there was nothing to suggest that what should be the best day of his life would turn into his worst nightmare. Barcelona and Milan were going to dispute the final of the 1994 Champions League and he had been chosen to be the referee of that match. That was to be the highlight of his career, but four days before the game a communication reached the Dutch Football Association. The letter reported that John had been removed from that game. The reason? The Dutch defender Ronald Koeman played for Barcelona and the coach was the legendary Johan Cruyff, so it was thought that a referee of the same nationality could demonstrate some partiality. This explanation never satisfied John and, to this day, his family uses another hypothesis for his departure from the final. “At that time, the owner of Milan was Silvio Berlusconi and he is not a very gay-friendly person. We are almost sure that this is the real reason. If it had been for what they told us in the first place, no referee could be in charge of an international match between clubs since there is always a player from their country involved”, said Karin. Sadness invaded John after that decision and his sister saw him shed some tears. That same year he retired from professional refereeing. Although he was openly gay, Blankenstein was not an activist during his years as a referee. It was only when he retired that he began to contact organizations in the LGBTIQ + community and became a point of reference. This brought him some problems with Dutch Football Association, where he had started to work after leaving refereeing. “The institution did not like what he did. At that time they thought very differently than today. The president at the time was anti-gay and that was a problem for John, but he said, 'I'm proud of who I am and I want to work for my community'”, his sister recalled. On 1 July 2006, tired of his differences with the directors, he stopped working at the Association. "I am free, now I can do what I want", he told himself, but he could not fulfill his dream. Less than two months later, on August 25, he died at the age of 57 from kidney disease. Karin, her sister, decided that his ideas could not be truncated and took the responsibility of continuing his legacy. She met with some people who shared his interests and in December 2008 created the John Blankenstein Foundation, an institution that aims to end homophobia and the taboo of homosexuality in football and sports in general. The entity, which began as a small initiative but over the years began to have greater significance, seeks to create a safe environment for athletes to express their sexuality freely.
