Theo van Zwieteren

In 1922, the 33-year-old van Zwieteren became a referee in the Dutch First Division, where he refereed a total of six Ajax matches, which ended in three losses and three draws.^[1] The following year, the Referees Committee of the Dutch FA nominated him as an international referee, thus becoming a member of FIFA, officiating a total of three international matches between 1923 and 1925.^[2][3]

In his international debut on 4 November 1923, van Zwieteren officiated a friendly match between Germany and Norway in Hamburg, which ended in a 1–0 win to the former.^[2][3] At the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, he worked as a linesman in one match, the quarter-finals between France and the eventual champions Uruguay.^[4][5] The following year, in May, he refereed another France match, this time a friendly against England, losing again (2–3),^[2][6] and also in May, he oversaw a match between Uruguay's Club Nacional and Belgium, which ended in a 2–1 win to the latter.^[7]

Theo van Zwieteren was born on 6 January 1887 to Theodorus Johannes van Zwieteren and Margaretha Apolina de Koster. He was the eldest of nine siblings. One of his brothers was Willy van Zwieteren,^{[citation needed]} who played for Sparta Rotterdam and for the Netherlands national football team.^[8] Theo van Zwieren's first cousin once removed,^{[citation needed]} Teddy Scholten, won the Eurovision Song Contest 1959.^[9]

Theo van Zwieteren played field tennis and was a lifelong member of Sparta Rotterdam.^[10] He died in Voorburg on 11 December 1962, at the age of 75.^[2][10]