Meet the team

Frank Huisingh

Founder / coordinator

Frank has recently taken a year of unpaid leave from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to start and work on Fossil Free Football. He works on it full time: organising campaigns, involving more and more people, coordinating the team and speaking to the media about the need to make football fossil fuel free. He supports Ajax.

Robert Maij

Volunteer

Robert is currently a second-year student studying International Sports Management. He works on different research projects for Fossil Free Football. He supports Sparta Rotterdam.

Teije ten Den

Volunteer

Teije is a former professional football player (Dutch first and second division and Segunda B in Spain). He is concerned about climate change and worried about the role football is playing. Teije studied history. in which he focused on social movements and sport. He is currently working as a researcher and is supporting Real Madrid.

Gustavo Holguin

Volunteer

Gustavo is a Film and Multiplatform Storytelling student. He believes that football has the responsibility to bring awareness about social issues. He is a Mexican that is currently living in Toronto, Canada. He supports Tigres UANL.

Mels Ubels

Volunteer

Mels is currently having a gap year, and is going to study history next year. He helps Fossil Free Football by researching greener options of transport within the world of football. He is a big FC Utrecht-supporter.

Eric van de Giessen

Board treasurer

Eric always loved to play football. Now he manages a youth football team in Utrecht. He enjoys witnessing how football strengthens players' creativity, perseverance and cooperation skills. Each player has her or his own added value on the pitch. This translates to the global climate crisis: we all need to do our part - and cooperate effectively - to tackle this huge problem together.

David Belgers

Volunteer

Tessel Middag

Star Player

Tessel currently plays professional football for Rangers FC in Scotland. Previously, she played for ADO Den Haag, AFC Ajax, Manchester City, West Ham United and Fiorentina. She also played 44 matches for the Dutch national team and was active at the 2015 World Cup. She's also an historian, with a focus on the history of women's football. Tessel is a member of the player's union in both Scotland and the Netherlands. She is very concerned about the climate crisis and convinced that football can play a major role in social change.

Daniel Lissoni

Volunteer

Daniel works as a Communications Officer for an environmental NGO in Brussels. In his free time he helps FFF by developing communication materials. He supports AS Roma.

Vitas Carosella

Volunteer

Vitas is a young professional with a master’s degree in International Relations. He is American, but has spent many years living all across Spain. He is committed to environmental causes and the restructuring of football in a sustainable manner. He fell in love with football watching Zinedine Zidane and is a Real Madrid fan.

Eshara Kohli

Volunteer

Eshara currently works for a humanitarian aid organization as a fundraising communications officer. She helps Fossil Free Football with communication and fundraising work as she wants to help fight the climate crisis. Eshara supports FC Utrecht.

Okke Vermeulen

Volunteer

Okke is a student of Law and Economics in Leiden. He is a huge football enthusiast but believes that some changes need to be made to ensure the future of football. He assists in outreach to amateur clubs. He is a fan of Feyenoord.

Bas Bijlsma

Board president

Bas has worked for a more sustainable world in different roles: as an activist, diplomat and political advisor. He saw how the climate crisis has a huge impact on the most vulnerable people around the world. He is keen to make sure football is no longer used to promote big polluters.

Diederick van der Linden

Volunteer