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Supervisors

The Board of Commissioners is the supervisory body of the KNVB Professional Football Unit and has its own regulations. The Supervisory Board is its counterpart in the Amateur Football Unit. 

KNVB Board of Commissioners

The Board of Commissioners consists of Jan Smit, Elsemieke Havenga-Hillen, Han Berger, Niek Jan van Kesteren and Erik Mulder.

Jan Albers

Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football (Chair)

— Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football (Chair).

Jan Albers (27 March 1952) has earned his spurs in the business world, holding board positions at Philips, Gamma Holding and Royal Ten Cate, among others. Albers also has an impressive sports record. In his twenties, he was a member of the Dutch field hockey team at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.

After his active career as a player, Albers served as commissioner with the official governing body of field hockey in the Netherlands (KNHB) as well as chairman of the association. From 2012 to 2020, he was a member of the PSV Eindhoven Supervisory Board, the last six years as chairman.

The General Professional Football Assembly on 18 June 2021 rubberstamped Albers' appointment at the helm of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for a period of two years. Albers took up his duties on 1 September 2021.

Elsemieke Havenga-Hillen

Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football

Elsemieke Havenga-Hillen, Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football

Elsemieke Havenga (30 September 1959) knows what it takes to reach the very top of sports. At the age of seventeen, Havenga won her first cap for the Netherlands field hockey team, earning a total of 107 caps during her international career. She lifted several major titles including European champion and four times world champion. Havenga also won gold at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles with the Netherlands women’s field hockey team.

After her sporting career, Havenga switched to journalism and worked for a number of media programmes and channels including Studio Sport, Veronica Nieuws Radio and RTL nieuws.

Havenga is currently working as a communications expert and coach. She trains directors and management teams of large companies and other organisations, helping them to improve communication and collaboration and foster behavioural change.

Havenga is the Chair of the Supervisory Board of Plan Nederland, member of the Board of the Spieren voor Spieren foundation and Chair of the Sports Council of the central Dutch town of Laren.

"I am looking forward to making a contribution with this team to the largest sports association in our country," Havenga said upon her appointment as a member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football.

HAN BERGER

Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football

— Han Berger, Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football.

Han Berger (17 June 1950) is chairman of the Netherlands Association of Professional Football Coaches and has a long and rich career in football.

Berger steered no fewer than 637 matches as a manager in the top-flight Eredivisie, the second highest number for any manager in the history of the Dutch league. Berger was particularly successful at FC Utrecht (ending third of the league table in 1981) and FC Groningen (fourth of the table in 1986). Both clubs subsequently took part in the UEFA Cup competition and performed remarkably well.

Under his stewartship, Frisian club Cambuur Leeuwarden promoted to the Eredivisie in 1998 after play-off matches. Between 1998 and 2000, Berger served as head coach of the Netherlands Junior Team and also supervised the national youth teams of the KNVB. In 2004, he was manager of Oita Trinita in Japan.

Han Berger held the post of technical director at Dutch premier league clubs FC Utrecht (2000-2003) and De Graafschap (2005-2008). From January 2009 to June 2014, he served as national technical director of the Football Federation Australia (FFA). Next, Berger was appointed as a board member in charge of technical affairs and technical director ('football director') of Sydney FC, a job he still does on a part-time basis.

When he joined the KNVB Board of Commissioners, Berger said: "I expect a lot from the collaboration with my fellow Board members, who combine a wealth of practical experience with specific expertise. I hope and expect to be able to contribute to a new KNVB policy which will bring Dutch football back to the international top. I personally believe that our guiding principles should be of a technical nature in order to achieve this.”

Niek Jan van Kesteren

Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football

Niek Jan van Kesteren, Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football.

Niek Jan van Kesteren (24 September 1952) knows the social and political arena like no other.

Van Kesteren served as general director of the Confederation of Netherlands Industries and Employers VNO-NCW organisation for 17 years. Under his leadership, VNO-NCW became the most influential lobby organisation in the Netherlands. Since 2012, he has also been general director of the Royal Dutch Association of Medium and Small Companies (MKB).

Niek Jan van Kesteren is regarded as one of the champions of consensus-based decision-making (known in the Netherlands as the ‘polder model’). He has been instrumental in brokering numerous deals with trade unions and environmental organisations. He has also been a member of the Executive Committee of the Netherlands' Social Economic Council.

In 2015, Van Kesteren joined the Upper House of Parliament on behalf of the Christian Democrat CDA party.

Niek Jan van Kesteren has been chairman of Katwijk club FC Rijnvogels (Hoofdklasse, or second-highest league of amateur football in the Netherlands) for 14 years. He was appointed honorary president upon his retirement.

Given his background, Van Kesteren could be seen as a natural intermediary with the KNVB’s Amateur Unit. He is co-author of an advisory report to the KNVB’s Professional Football Unit titled 'Change | Connection | Confidence' ['Veranderen|Verbinden|Vertrouwen'].

Erik Mulder

Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football

Erik Mulder, Member of the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football.

Erik Mulder (1967) joined the KNVB Board of Commissioners for Professional Football in November 2016. 

Mulder worked as a tax consultant with KPMG Meijburg & Co. for many years before he joined FC Groningen in May 1998. He started as financial manager and moved on to the position of CFO, which he held from 2003 to March 2012.

During this period, he served as a member of the KNVB Finance Committee for a period of seven years. He was also a member of the KNVB Fiscal Platform as well as the General Affairs Platform of the cooperative body of Premier League clubs (Eredivisie CV), each for approximately 10 years.


Supervisory Board for Amateur Football

The members of this Board are Pier Eringa (chairman), Jos Vranken, Huub Wieleman, Tjienta van Pelt and Albert van Wijk.

Pier Eringa

Chairman of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football, Vice-President of the Association Board

Pier Eringa, Chairman of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football, Vice-President of the Association Board.

Pier Eringa (1961) has held various public positions, including town clerk of Nijmegen, police commissioner and police chief of Flevoland province and Director Safety with Netherlands Railways (NS). From 2010 to 2015, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Dordrecht. In April 2015, Pier Eringa was appointed CEO of ProRail. In addition, he has held various social and supervisory positions at health care and police organisations.

Huub Wieleman

Member of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football, member of the Association Board 

Huub Wieleman, Member of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football, member of the Association Board.

Huub Wieleman (1955) is a member of the Board of Directors of Reinier Haga hospitals in The Hague, Delft and Zoetermeer. Previously, he was a partner at Deloitte Accountants. He was also chairman of the Dutch Institute of Chartered Accountants (NBA), Chairman of the Supervisory Board of a housing corporation and a member of the Board of the Architecture Institute in Rotterdam.

Tjienta van Pelt

Member of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football

Tjienta van Pelt, Member of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football.

Tjienta van Pelt (43) has been Director of the Gelderland Sports Federation since 2008. In May 2016, she joined the KNVB Supervisory Board. Van Pelt is a volunteer with DVOV football club in her hometown of Velp. She has also participated in the organisation of several major international football tournaments, including EURO 2000 and the 2005 Under-20 World Championship. 

Van Pelt also served as venue manager in the host city of Arnhem at the 2007 Under-17 European Championship. In addition, she has been involved in organising FIFA tournaments in other countries, including Russia, China and Chili.

Jos Vranken

Member of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football

Jos Vranken, Member of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football.

Jos Vranken (1967) has been General Manager of NBTC Holland Marketing since September 2007. Previously he held several managerial positions, including commercial director at Avenance Netherlands, and Marketing Director and Director UK & Ireland at NBTC. Vranken also served as Marketing & Sales Director at hostel chain Stayokay. Vranken has also held various social and supervisory positions: he is a member of the Economic Board Greenport Duin & Bollenstreek and a member of the Supervisory Board of Leiden Marketing.

Albert van Wijk

Member of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football, member of the Association Board

Albert van Wijk, Member of the Supervisory Board for Amateur Football, member of the Association Board.

Since June 2011, Albert van Wijk (1962) has been a member of the Netherlands Board of Procurators General, responsible for IT, finance and other operations. Previously, he held several senior positions at various departments of the Netherlands Public Prosecution Service. 

He was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Dutch Association for the Judiciary (Nederlandse Vereniging voor Rechtspraak), Chairman of the Supervisory Board at health organisation PC Zorggroep Rijnmond (now Lily care group), and later chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Randstad reformed comprehensive school..

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