Paulus Hendrikus Martinus van Boekel (born 19 July 1975) is a Dutch international football referee.
Van Boekel also played football professionally himself, six seasons with Eerste Divisie club VVV.
He refereed at the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers,Profile beginning with the match between Moldova and England.
Van Boekel became a FIFA referee in 2008.FIFA. "Match Report – Moldova – England 0:5 (0:3)". 7 September 2012. Retrieved on 23 May 2013.
Controversial calls On 7 July 2021, he was the video assistant referee (VAR) for the Euro 2020 semifinal match between England and Denmark. Controversially, he chose to uphold referee Danny Makkelie's decision to award a penalty for a foul on Raheem Sterling of England.
On 26 October 2022 he was the video assistant referee (VAR) for the 2022–2023 UEFA Champions League Group stage match between Tottenham Hotspur and Sporting CP, he controversially ruled out Harry Kane's injury time winner which would have meant Tottenham went through to the round of 16 in the Champions league.
On 12 October 2023 he was the video assistant referee (VAR) for the Euro 2024 Qualifying match between Spain and Scotland; he controversially ruled out Scott McTominay's free kick goal that put Scotland 1-0 ahead for, initially, a foul on the goalkeeper, before changing the decision to offside.
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