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Harry Been

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Harry Been (1989)

Harry Been (born January 23, 1949) is a Dutch businessman who presided over the organizing committees of Euro 2000, the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship,[1] and the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.[2] He was head of the joint Netherlands and Belgium bid to host the 2018 World Cup.[3]

Life and career

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Been studied social sciences and planning at the University of Groningen. He was the municipal secretary of the municipality of Zwolle. He was particularly known as director of a number of major football tournaments, Euro 2000 (together with Belgium[4]), the World Cup under 20 of 2005 and the European Championships under 21 of 2007. In addition, he was ultimately responsible for the European finals.

Harry Been became director at the NOC*NSF in 2012. He is a president commissioner of Sportstad Heerenveen, member of the UEFA's organizational committee of the European Championships for country teams. He is also a member of the organizational committee of the FIFA World Championships. Both for UEFA and FIFA, he is an official observer at international football matches and tournaments.

In 2010, he received the Sport Know How Award. In 2013 he received de Frenckell Medal for "Serving The Game in A Remarkable Way" in Helsinki.

Harry Been is also known for his controversial decision to ask the continuation of the UEFA 2016 game between Serbia and Albania, after hooligan fans entered the pitch and physically attacked Albanian players.

References

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  1. ^ "Blatter: Bravo to the organisers". fifa.com. FIFA. 1 July 2005. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  2. ^ Chaplin, Mark (19 June 2007). "Under-21s set for thrilling finale". uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  3. ^ Johnson, Phil (4 December 2009). "World Cup winners will net £19million reward". The Scotsman. Retrieved 22 April 2010.
  4. ^ "England threatened with expulsion if hooligans are not restrained". Soccertimes. 18 June 2000. Archived from the original on 11 January 2011. Retrieved 22 April 2010.