Bas Nijhuis will no longer be an international referee after this calendar year. Last summer, the referee came into conflict with UEFA, which, according to him, had problems with his performances in the summer talk show De Oranjezomer. Nijhuis subsequently requested that his career as an international referee be ended, so he will no longer whistle European matches in 2022.
Last summer, Nijhuis was a regular participant at De Oranjezomer, the daily talk show of Wilfred Genee, Johan Derksen and Rene van der Gijp. "We had a nice summer and after that I suddenly heard: 'Bas, UEFA was not very happy that you were at De Oranjezomer'", Nijhuis explained to Veronica Inside on Monday. "I said: 'Why, is UEFA looking at that?' "No, they weren't really happy you were there." I said: 'That's fine, but if there is something, UEFA will call me.' Well, so I wait, then the first appointments for the Champions League and Europa League came: no matches." Nijhuis then took action. "I thought: What is that; no matches? I am someone who calls immediately. Well, maybe that is not good, but I immediately called Roberto Rosetti, our referee boss. I said: 'I have no competition, how is that possible? I already heard that it played a part that I've been on TV, is that right?' 'Yeah, you know, UEFA policy is not for the camera' I said: 'No, but in the Netherlands, we always do it that way, also after competitions, blah blah blah. But if it causes a problem, you have to say, so now, because I can only do one more year internationally (because of his age, ed.), then I will stop internationally right now."
This marked the end of his career as an international referee. "Then Rosetti said: 'No, Bas, please send me an e-mail.' I did that, but never got an answer. Then I heard: 'You won't get any good matches later.' And then I thought: they will send me to less important matches with observers who will give me bad marks, so then I contacted Dick van Egmond (KNVB referee coordinator) who looking for nominations for international referees, because Björn Kuipers had to be replaced. I said: 'Get me off the list too, because I'm really going to get those less important matches.' So, starting from the new year, I will no longer be an international referee." Derksen suggested that it was leaked 'from Zeist', possibly by other Dutch referees, that Nijhuis was on TV last summer, because UEFA does not watch Dutch TV. Nijhuis could not confirm whether this was the case.
Source: VoetbalZone