Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands has decorated former football referee Frans Derks. The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) had nominated him because of his outstanding services to football and his social engagement.

Mr Derks, who is 79, refereed from 1956 to 1978. He caught the eye through his elegant style and his outfit on the pitch, often appearing in tight-fitting shorts.
He was and is more tolerant towards misbehaving punters than today's arbiters. In 2005 he pleaded for allowing the chanting of relatively innocent, non-racist slogans to go unpunished, even if they compared the referee to a dog, or some part thereof. "That's an honorary epithet," he said.

In 1972 Frans Derks founded the interest group of professional football referees. He is involved in the Dutch Homeless Cup, a football competition for the homeless, and serves on the board of the More than Football foundation, which promotes football as a means of increasing social cohesion.

Frans Derks in the 1970s (Photo: degoeieouwetijd.nl) and Frans Derks in 2009 (Photo: FlickR/Urville Djasim)