Jeff Hardeveld, a Dutch footballer, has acknowledged his growing romance with fourth official Shona Shukrole, just four months after they met for the first time.
Jeff Hardeveld, a Dutch footballer, has acknowledged his relationship with fourth official Shona Shukrula, months after she officiated in a game in the Dutch second division in which he was sent off.
Hardeveld is a member of FC Emmen in the Eerste Divisie, the same league in which Shukrula works as a referee.
In August of last year, the 26-year-old left-back received his marching orders in a match against FC Eindhoven.
However, the mishap hasn't stopped the couple from falling in love off the field.
According to De Telegraaf, the pair met for the first time during a romantic New Year's trip to Rome, after which they went public with their romance on social media.
"It's official @jeffhardeveld," Shukrula posted on Instagram, beside a photo of the couple posing together.
Hardeveld confirmed his relationship with the 30-year-old beauty with a similar image on his personal account.
Shukrula, who became a FIFA trained referee in 2017, started working as a fourth official in the Dutch second tier in 2020, a year before she met Hardeveld.
She is one of the most well regarded referees in the Dutch game, having worked in Champions League matches as well as European Championship and World Cup qualifiers.
Hardeveld has only been in the division for a short time with Emmen.
The left-back just joined Emmen last year and has only appeared in a few of games for the Dutch club - and has only played twice since being dismissed in August's match against Eindhoven.
Hardeveld began his professional career with Feyenoord in 2013, but he departed the club without making a single appearance.
Since then, he's played for clubs like as FC Utrecht and Heracles before committing to Emmen.
Hardeveld has previously represented the Netherlands at various young levels, including a single U21 appearance in 2015, but has struggled to build on that success at home.
