Referee, 38, dies weeks after being dropped from World Cup 2026
- Dutch referee Rob Dieperink, 38, has died, the KNVB announced.
- Dieperink had been selected as a VAR for the World Cup 2026 but was removed from Fifa’s list of officials in May.
- His removal followed his arrest by the Metropolitan Police in April on suspicion of sexual assault against a teenage boy in London.
- The case was subsequently closed without charges being filed, as police concluded the ‘evidential threshold had not been met’.
- Dieperink had previously stated he was ‘wrongly accused’ and expressed disappointment at Fifa’s decision to drop him from the World Cup.
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