Published on 26 September 2022

Referee Jan Floors from Neede has been involved in the tournament since the beginning of the Karel Stegeman Toernooi in 1985. Jan whistled annually at the KST from the first tournament and he decided in 2003, after almost 20 years, to end his active contribution. His sporting final chord that year was the whistling of the final, in which FK Cukaricki from the then Serbia & Montenegro defeated the Czech SK Ceské Budejovice. Cukaricki, with the later Serbian international players Aleksandar Kolarov (a.o. Manchester City and Internazionale) and Milos Ninkovic (a.o. Dynamo Kyiv and Red Star) and Ceské Budejovice with Jiri Kladrubsky, who later played for the Czech Republic and Sparta Prague and Slovan Bratislava. Both teams were extremely pleased with the referee on duty (photo).
After his active contribution to the KST, Jan continued with what he had started years earlier, arranging and coordinating the referee corps for the tournament.
Recently Jan, now 75 years old, informed us that he wanted to stop this work, with the reason that he wants to make room for the younger generation. Jan literally indicates that the youth has the future and they also have other ideas about filling in the arbitration.
Of course, we can and only want to have understanding and respect for Jan’s point of view. We have enjoyed years of using his expertise and his network and are indebted to him for that.
Thank you Jan and hope to see you!