Frank De Bleeckere (; born 1 July 1966) is a Belgian former football referee. He had been a referee since 1984, and an international (FIFA) official since 1998. De Bleeckere refereed in his first World Cup finals in Germany, and had to pass a late fitness test following injury. He had been appointed by UEFA as one of twelve referees to officiate UEFA Euro 2008 matches, and was in charge of the semi final between Spain and Russia. Career highlights International appointments De Bleeckere made his international refereeing debut on 24 March 2001 in a FIFA World Cup 2002 Qualifier between Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland. In 2005, he oversaw the FIFA U-17 World Championship Final between Mexico and Brazil. De Bleeckere refereed five games in the tournament, including the final. One year later, in 2006, he was in charge of the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier between Turkey and Switzerland. UEFA Champions League In 2005, De Bleeckere was in charge of the UEFA Champions League quarter-final match between Liverpool and Juventus. During the UEFA Champions League 2006-07 group stage, De Bleeckere was chosen for the match between Chelsea and Barcelona. Later in the tournament, De Bleeckere was appointed by UEFA to referee the semi-final between Milan and Manchester United on 2 May 2007. In the 2007–08 tournament, he was assigned the first knockout round first leg game between Liverpool and Internazionale. He sent off Inter defender Marco Materazzi for two yellow card offences after 30 minutes, leaving Inter to play with 10 men for the rest of the match. Next, he was appointed for the quarter-final clash between Roma and Manchester United. In 2008–09, De Bleeckere took charge of the Group E match between Manchester United and Celtic at Old Trafford on 21 October 2008. In 2009–10, De Bleeckere took charge of the semi-final match between Barcelona and Inter on 28 April 2010. He was involved in a couple of controversial decisions. He gave Inter midfielder Thiago Motta a red card for an offense on Sergio Busquets. In 2010–11, De Bleeckere was in charge of the second leg of the 2010–11 semi-final match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F. 2009 UEFA Super Cup On 28 August 2009, De Bleeckere took charge of the UEFA Super Cup match between the UEFA Champions League winners FC Barcelona and the last UEFA Cup winners FC Shakhtar Donetsk at the Stade