Stadium referees are indispensable in the world of football, and world leagues or tournaments seek out the best referees to ensure the best management of the competition.
In a report published by the Turkish “Sporting Free” website, he reviewed the highest-paid football referees in the world for the year 2022-2023.
The site said that some major administrative bodies, such as the European Football Association (UEFA), have formed a high referee committee, where they choose from among the best referees from all over the world and appoint them to the largest leagues in the world, such as the Champions League.
And he stated that the decisions of the referees decide tournaments and change career paths, and greatly affect what sports betting sites do.
But who are the referees who receive the highest salary for officiating 90 minutes?
“Sporting Free” stated that “UEFA” classified the wages of those responsible for the match, the assistant referees and even the fourth referee, and they also classified their wage system by dividing the referees into 5 sections:
- Elite rulers: Match referee ($10,000) and assistant referee ($3,000)
- Elite development: Match referee ($6,500,000) and assistant referee (two thousand)
- section One: Match referee ($3,000) and assistant referee ($750)
- Section Two: Match referee ($2,000) and assistant referee ($550)
- Section Three: Match referee ($1,000) and assistant referee ($350).
The site stated that the referees who fall into the “elite” category are the most experienced, and need at least 5 to 6 years of arbitration experience in local leagues.
He pointed out that not all referees who belong to the category of “elite referees” get 10 thousand dollars, so those who manage the knockout stages get 10 thousand dollars, but those who run matches in the group stages only get 8 thousand dollars for each match.
Highest-paid football referees in the world (elite class)
- Slovenian Damir Skomina: $10,000 per match
- Turkish Junaid Chaker: 10 thousand dollars
- Dutchman Bjorn Kuipers: 10 thousand dollars
- German Felix Brech: 10 thousand dollars
- French Clement Turpan: 10 thousand dollars
- Dutchman Danny Makelli: 8 thousand dollars
- Spain’s Antonio Mateo Lahoz: 8 thousand dollars
- Italian Daniele Orsato: 8 thousand dollars
- Italian Gianluca Rocci: 8 thousand dollars
- Scotsman William Cullum: 8 thousand dollars
“Sporting Free” stated that Skomina and Chaker are the highest paid referees in the Champions League, given the number of large matches they manage. However, people should not be mistaken by saying that they are the highest paid people in the world.
And he indicated that – according to reports – Mark Clattenburg, the former English Premier League referee, signed a contract with the Saudi Al-Ittihad for $ 650,000 per season. And if reports are to be believed, he is the highest paid referee in the world today.
The site indicated that the Spaniard Lahoz is the second most paid referee, although he receives only 8 thousand dollars, and this is due to the fact that Spain offers the highest basic salary for its rulers in the world.
As for the basic salary of football referees in the top 5 leagues in the world:
- La Liga: About 7250 dollars
- Bundesliga: About 4550 dollars
- Chinese Super League: About 4350 dollars
- Italian Leauge: $3,750
- English Premier League: about 1900 dollars
