The Royal Dutch Football Association (Dutch: Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond, pronounced [ˌkoːnɪŋkləkə ˈneːdərlɑntsə ˈvutbɑlbɔnt]; KNVB [ˌkaːʔenveːˈbeː]) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch men's and women's national teams.
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| Short name | KNVB |
| Founded | 8 December 1889 |
| Headquarters | Zeist, Netherlands |
| FIFA affiliation | 21 May 1904 |
| UEFA affiliation | 15 June 1954 |
| BeNe League affiliation | 5 May 2012 – 5 May 2015 |
| President | Just Spee |
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For three seasons in the 2010s, the KNVB and its Belgian counterpart operated a joint top-level women's league, the BeNe League, until the two countries dissolved the league after the 2014–15 season and re-established their own top-level leagues. The KNVB is based in the central municipality of Zeist. With over 1.2 million members, the KNVB is the single largest sports association in the Netherlands.[1]
History
In 1889, the Nederlandse Voetbal en Athletiek Bond was founded. Due to certain disagreements, several football clubs ended their association with it and joined together to form Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KNVB) which was later renamed to its present name.[2] It was one of the founding members of FIFA in 1904 and one of the first non-British football associations in Europe.[3][self-published source?] The first Dutch football club was formed in 1879 in Haarlem.[4] The Netherlands Football League Championship had already existed unofficially for a decade when the association was founded. The KNVB strongly disapproved of the professionalism of football in 1909. It said that "it will protest against it by all means necessary."[5] In 2012, the KNVB launched an 11-point action plan, called 'Football for everyone' to promote gay football players in coming out. It released a 30-second video named 'Gay? It doesn't matter'; prepared by broadcaster BNN. The video was also broadcast during the Dutch national football teams World Cup qualifier match against Andorra held in October 2012.[6]
During the 2014 FIFA World Cup, it collaborated with Royal Philips to open six football clinics across Brazil. Bert van Oostveen is the current Secretary-General of KNVB.[1]
Management
| Senior management | Title/Managed Institution | Term of office | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Just Spee (born 1965) | President | National football team | Since 17 December 2019 | |||
| Gijs de Jong (born 1972) | Secretary-General | National football team | Since January 2018 | |||
| Nigel de Jong (born 1984) | Technical Director | Netherlands national football team · Netherlands women's national football team | Since 4 June 2023 | |||
| Marianne Van Leeuwen (born 1961) | Director of professional football | Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie | Since 1 September 2021 | |||
| Board of directors – Professional Leagues | Title/Managed Institution | Term of office | ||||
| Jean-Paul Decossaux (born 1963) | Chief commercial officer | Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie | Since 1 December 2009 | |||
| Ron Francis (born 1978) | Financial director | Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie | Since 1 July 2010 | |||
| Mark Boetekees (born 1973) | Chief administrative officer | Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie | Since 1 April 2010 | |||
| Board of directors – Amateur Leagues | Title/Managed Institution | Term of office | ||||
| Jan Dirk van der Zee (born 1971) | Operations Director | Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse | Since 1 April 2015 | |||
| Meta Römers (born 1970) | Administrative Director | Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse | Since 1 January 2016 | |||
| Supervisory board – Professional Leagues | Title/Managed Institution | Term of office | ||||
| Simon Kelder (born 1944) | Senior Member | Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie | Since 4 June 2012 | |||
| Erik Mulder (born 1967) | Member | Eredivisie · Eerste Divisie | Since 1 November 2016 | |||
| Supervisory board – Amateur Leagues | Title/Managed Institution | Term of office | ||||
 | Pier Eringa (born 1961) | Chairman | Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse | Since 1 December 2014 | ||
| Huub Wieleman (born 1955) | Member | Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse | Since 1 December 2014 | |||
| Tjienta van Pelt (born 1970) | Member | Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse | Since 1 June 2016 | |||
| Jos Vranken (born 1967) | Member | Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse | Since 1 December 2014 | |||
| Albert van Wijk (born 1962) | Member | Derde Divisie · Hoofdklasse · Eerste Klasse · Tweede Klasse Derde Klasse · Vierde Klasse · Vijfde Klasse | Since 1 December 2014 | |||
| Source: KNVB.nl (in Dutch) | ||||||
Current sponsorships
See also
References
External links
- KNVB.nl – official website (in Dutch)
- KNVB.com – official website in English
- OnsOranje.nl – website of the Netherlands national football team (in Dutch)
- Netherlands National Football Team History at VoetbalStats.nl (in Dutch)
- Netherlands at FIFA site
- Netherlands at UEFA site