Frederikus Johannes (Eric) Braamhaar (born October 13, 1966 in
Rijssen
Rijssen (; nds-nl, Riesn, ) is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is part of Rijssen-Holten, one of thirteen municipalities in Twente. It has almost 28,000 inhabitants. The economy of Rijssen relies mostly on commerce and construct ...
) is a Dutch
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
referee. Braamhaar is known to have served as a
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
referee during the period from 2003 to 2011. He officiated at the
2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship
The 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship, was the tenth edition of FIFA U-17 World Championship. It was held in the cities of Helsinki, Tampere, Lahti and Turku in Finland between 13 and 30 August 2003. Players born after 1 January 1986 could particip ...
and
2005 FIFA World Youth Championship
The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005.
Venues
Qualification
The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...
, as well as qualifying matches for the
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and
2010 World Cup
, image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg
, size = 200px
, caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...
s.
He refereed the 2007
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
knockout stage match between
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
and
Lille OSC
Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...
. There was some controversy as Braamhaar allowed United's
Ryan Giggs
Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...
to take the free-kick and score before Lille goalkeeper Tony Sylva had assembled the defensive wall; Lille's players threatened to walk off the pitch leading them to be charged with improper conduct by UEFA. Four weeks later, while refereeing an
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...
, he was seen celebrating when
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
scored their fifth goal in a 5–1 victory over
PSV Eindhoven
Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, whi ...
. PSV manager
Ronald Koeman
Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...
, thought he was celebrating the goal, but Braamhaar later explained that he celebrated because of his decision to play advantage after an Ajax player was fouled in the build-up.
On April 26, 2007 he left the pitch during the
UEFA Cup
A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...
semi final between
Osasuna
Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...
and
Sevilla
Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...
due to a torn calf muscle. He was replaced by fourth official
Enter
Enter or ENTER may refer to:
* Enter key, on computer keyboards
* Enter, Netherlands, a village
* ''Enter'' (magazine), an American technology magazine for children 1983–1985
* ''Enter'' (Finnish magazine), a Finnish computer magazine
* Enter ...
in the province of
Overijssel
Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the ...