Professional referees to counter match fixing

”When you see a circle drawn, the referee is at the heart of it,” FIFA president Joseph S. Blatter announced at a news conference a few days before the FIFA congress and the opening match of the 2006 World Cup.

In light of the recent match-fixing scandals around the world involving referees, Blatter used the opportunity to stress the need for professional referees in all the wealthy leagues.

”Weak souls occur in all trades, but if the salary is right and the referee knows he can’t come back if he is caught taking bribes, it would eliminate part of the temptation,” said Peter Mikkelsen, former World Cup referee and FIFA-instructor during this years finals, to the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten.

The proposal is not new. The concept of professional referees has been on the FIFA agenda for almost a decade. A working group of the FIFA Referees Committee started work on the project in December 2005 but has not published any results yet.

According to an interview published on the FIFA website, Blatter suggests that referees should be paid an annual salary in the region of €100.000:

“There is so much money in professional football there has to be enough for the referees to be paid properly. They should sign fixed-term contracts and be paid by the association and not by the league.”

Blatter even raised the possibility of a transfer system for referees with match officials travelling overseas to do the job in different leagues.

The English experience of paid referees 
In 2000 the English Football Association introduced professional referees by appointing a Select Group who officiates in the FA Premier League as well as other competitions.

According to the association’s website, referees in this group receive an 'annual retainer' of £33,000 plus match fees for their commitment to training and development over several days each month in addition to their match commitments. Including match fees this could amount to over £60.000 a year.

By many standards this is considered a well-paid job that should be able to provide the referees with a decent living but they are still allowed to pursue other careers outside the refereeing business. 

According to Ian Blanchar, Head of National Referee Development, only a small group of referees do not have other jobs and are reliant on being a referee for income.

Even though this suggests that most of the Select Group referees are in fact not full-time professionals, it should be mentioned that the Premier League is one of the few major leagues were Play the Game’s research did not pick up signs of match-fixing.

Professional refereeing can be a short career 
According to Blatter contracted referees have already been introduced in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, France and England. They are paid annual fees by either their associations or the league.  

Even though FIFA is pressing hard to influence the introduction of professional referees, they will not impose the suggestion. It is the referees who have to make the decision and not everyone is as delighted with the proposal as the president.  

A practical argument against becoming a professional referee is that it is hardly a career for life. Few officials reach the top before their mid-thirties and with compulsory retirement in the late forties refereeing is a short career.

Few officials are willing to give up their civil careers and as a result only two of the 44 men officiating at the World Cup were full-time professional referees, according to the National Post.

Compared to player salaries the proposal of €100.000 a year is not going to impress anyone. Many top players make that amount each week.

According to This is London, umpires in basketball make roughly three times the salary of a Premier League referee for a slightly shorter season. In Major league baseball umpires earn approximately double the salary.