Raphaël van Praag

Raphaël Leon van Praag (12 September 1885 - 31 August 1934) was a Belgian football referee who officiated 12 international matches between 1911 and 1934.
Early life
Born in Amsterdam on 12 September 1885, Van Praag was still living in Amsterdam in 1905.
Refereeing career
International career
At some point after 1905, van Praag moved to Belgium where he became a referee, and in 1911, only a few after his arrival, he was already being described as an Antwerpian. After several years in the Belgian First Division, the Referees Committee of the Belgian FA nominated him as an international referee, thus becoming a member of FIFA. As such, he officiated a total of 12 international matches between 1911 and 1934. He had to wait nearly a decade for his next international appearance, which came at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp, where he refereed two matches, both featuring Yugoslavia, which lost 7-0 to Czechoslovakia in the first-round on 28 August, and then defeated Egypt 4-2 in a first-round consolation match on 3 September. In the former meeting, he awarded a late penalty to the Czechs which was successfully converted by Jan Vaník to seal a 7-0 victory, which remains the biggest victory of the Czechoslovakia national team as well as the heaviest defeat of Yugoslavia. Also in September, he refereed a further two matches, both featuring an Antwerp XI, which lost to Egypt 4-2 and then defeated Yugoslavia 6-0. He made his last two international appearances in March 1934, when he oversaw two Iberian derbies in a two-legged 1934 World Cup qualifier, which was won by Spain 11-1 on aggregate.
Club career
During one of the many championship celebrations of Arthur Van Meenen, who had just scored the match-winning goal that allowed Beerschot to win its first Belgian league title in 1921-22, he got into an argument with Van Praag, a conflict that escalated to such a degree that Beerschot decided to transfer him to Royal Antwerp.
On 30 October 1927, van Praag refereed the first leg of the final of the 1927 Mitropa Cup between Sparta Prague and Rapid Wien, which ended in a 6-2 win to the former.
Later life and death
On 19 January 1932, Van Praag was naturalized as a Belgian citizen. He died suddenly in Antwerp on 31 August 1934, at the age of 48.

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