Bjorn Kuipers is considered the richest referee in the world. He has an accumulated fortune of 11.5 million euros as a result of a supermarket chain that he owns in the Netherlands, his birthplace. However, he also acts as a referee and has not left anyone indifferent since he started his international career. In fact, has had a series of clashes with footballers who are now recovering, as some of them will be on the grass on Sunday in the final of the European Championship between England and Italy.
This is the case of Marco Verratti. The Italian midfielder denounced that Kuipers insulted him (also Leandro Paredes) after the tie between City and PSG of this same season in the Champions League. “He said ‘fuck you’ … I talk a lot with the referees, but I could never say that because it would penalize me with 10 games, “he explained after that game.
Kuipers has also had incidents with Cristiano and Messi, the two great giants of world football. The Portuguese ended up very angry with him after the elimination of the Champions League against Porto this year. Tuttosport came to say that “It has no level for the Champions League” and accused him of committing “serious mistakes” that cost “millions of euros and the credibility of the competition.”
With Messi, for his part, he was caught telling him to have more respect after the third goal against Liverpool at the Camp Nou in that famous tie that later ended in a comeback at Anfield. “Messi! Why are you celebrating like this? Come on! Show them some respect! Come on! Why are you doing it?”, the Argentine player was heard saying.
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