Kevin Blom is a Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 football referee, who officiates for FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 and UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

. He has refereed in the Eerste Divisie

Eerste Divisie

The Eerste Divisie is the second-highest division of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via a promotion/relegation system. It is also known as the Jupiler League due to sponsorship, which is the same name as the top league in Belgium...

, the Eredivisie

Eredivisie

The Eredivisie is the highest football league in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956 two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is currently ranked the ninth best league in Europe by UEFA....

 and the UEFA Champions League

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

. His home town is Alphen aan den Rijn

Alphen aan den Rijn

Alphen aan den Rijn is a town and municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of South Holland, between Leiden and Utrecht. The town is situated on the banks of the river Oude Rijn , where the river Gouwe branches off. The municipality had a population of 72,674 in 2010, and covers an...

.

His first match in professional football was the one between Go Ahead Eagles

Go Ahead Eagles

The Go Ahead Eagles are a football club from Deventer, Netherlands, currently playing in the Eerste Divisie. The club's home stadium is De Adelaarshorst. To date, the club has won the national championship four times...

 and Helmond Sport

Helmond Sport

Helmond Sport is a Dutch football club, playing in the Dutch Eerste Divisie and located in Helmond, Noord-Brabant. The club was founded on July 27, 1967, as a breakaway from the local professional club Helmondia '55, which had gone bankrupt.-History:...

 on 17 October 2003. In June 2004 he was promoted to the Dutch referees' A-list, allowing him to be a referee at international matches. He also belongs to the UEFA "elite group", meaning he can officiate Champions League matches.

In 2005 Blom was awarded the "Sportsman of the Year" title by the municipality of Gouda. In 2007 he was awarded the Gouden Kaart ("golden card"), the Dutch prize for best referee of the year.

Blom is a full-time employee of the Royal Dutch Football Association

Royal Dutch Football Association

The Royal Dutch Football Association is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues , the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch national football team. It is based in the municipality of Zeist.The KNVB came into being on 8 December 1889...

 (KNVB). In addition to his employment as a referee, he works for the Association's referee education department.

In a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying match on 3 September 2011, Blom awarded a penalty to the Czech Republic

Czech Republic national football team

The Czech Republic national football team represents the Czech Republic in association football and is controlled by the Football Association of the Czech Republic, the governing body for football in the Czech Republic. Their current head coach is Michal Bílek...

 in the dying minutes of a game against Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

. The penalty was given because of an alleged foul on Jan Rezek

Jan Rezek

Jan Rezek is a Czech player who currently plays for Anorthosis FamagustaRezek played for several top Czech clubs before and spent also one season in Russia at FC Kuban Krasnodar. In 2003 he won the Czech Football Cup with FK Teplice, one year later he won the cup with Sparta Prague...

, but replays showed the "foul" to be simulation

Diving (football)

In association football, diving is an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by diving to the ground and possibly feigning an injury, to appear as if a foul has been committed. Dives are often used to exaggerate the amount of contact present in a challenge...

 on Rezek's part. The penalty was converted, leveling the score at 2–2. Subsequently, Blom booked Scotland's Christophe Berra

Christophe Berra

Christophe Berra is a Scottish international footballer who currently plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers.-Hearts:Berra joined Hearts on 26 April 2002 from their youth development system...

when the latter was fouled in the Czech penalty box. The penalty was denied, Blom believing Berra to have dived. The result all but ended Scotland's hopes of qualification. Following this performance, and other performances with controversial incidents or cards in his home league, the Dutch Federation has decided he will not be nominated to represent KNVB as a referee at Euro 2012