How Much Do World Cup Referees Make

FIFA Referees and the World Cup Selection Procedure

By: Morganne Gagne

What is a FIFA referee?
- Referee Grades Explained
- Making the Cut
- Importance of Fitness
Life as a FIFA referee
- FIFA's button for referee professionalism
World Cup Selection Process

What is a FIFA referee?

While referees at all competition levels (local, national, international) are associated with FIFA, merely those that accept achieved the highest qualification level can officiate in international FIFA matches. All referees affiliated with FIFA have a designated class and must advance in grade in guild to referee college level matches. Referees generally begin equally Class 8, except especially young candidates (younger than 15 years sometime), who begin as Course nine. Only Grade 1 referees tin can serve every bit the head referee on formal international matches and Grade ii referees as the linesman.

Referee Grades Explained[ane] [2]

Course	Requirements and Recommended Assignments
one	*International referee* – Must be 25 years old. Tin officiate all World Cup and international matches as the head referee.
2	*International AR specialist* – Must exist 25 years erstwhile. Assistant referees to Course 1 referees on international matches.
three	*National referee* – Must exist 23 years old. Can officiate all games except formal FIFA international matches. Grade 3 indicates a referee'due south readiness to be considered for international service.
four	*National referee* – Must be 23 years old. Can officiate all games through third division professional leagues; banana referee for all games through second division professional.
v	*Country referee* – Must exist 19 years erstwhile. All youth games and amateur games including start partitioning and banana referee in professional person league and international loving cup games.
6	*State referee* – Must exist eighteen years old. All youth games and amateur games through 2nd division and banana referee in the top apprentice sectionalisation and Amateur loving cup games.
7	*Local referee –* Must be 17 years quondam. All youth games and mixed leagues, assistant referee in all amateur games below the top division
8	*Local referee –* No age minimum. All youth games, banana referee in comparable games.
9	*Local referee –* No age minimum. Very immature, "small sided" matches (usually 7 – 10 years old and six per side)

A more in depth clarification of referee grades and requirements from the U.s.a. Soccer Federation can be found here.

Making the Cut

Form one referees are the few that have survived the rigorous process. Of the 80,000 referees in the United States, there are only vii head referees on the FIFA men's list. [3] FIFA referees must be older than 25, just required to retire at 45, so it is of import for referees to ascent through the ranks quickly in order to take a long lasting FIFA career. [4]

Success as a referee is more than but knowing the rules of the game, and for this reason, upgrading is a well-rounded process. Referees must move up the ranks past officiating a minimum number of games, passing written and fitness tests, and earning the recommendations of assessors. A failure in any one of the requirements completely prevents a referee from advancing grades. "You can take a referee who will laissez passer the test with 100 percent written test, pass the physical test at 99 or 100 percent and you put them in the heart of the field and they can't find the field with their two easily and a seeing-heart domestic dog," says Ric Olivas, a longtime referee and member of the California State Referee Commission.[5] A referee may know all the rules, simply without charisma or personality, they will be ineffective in enforcing the laws of the game.

When quondam FIFA assistant Thomas Bobadilla was asked what qualities make a successful referee, he responded:

Regardless of the level of officiating referees need to be good at connecting with people then they can be seen by players and coaches every bit a partner who will aid have a safe, fair and fun game; fit to be able to proceed upwards with play and take a good chance of influencing adept behavior with presence; ability to read the game in terms of technical, physical and mental skills of the players in order to apply the appropriate level of foul recognition; and the wits to assistance resolve conflict before information technology becomes ugly to the game."

-Thomas Bobadilla, former FIFA assistant referee [6]

His full interview with US Referee Connnection tin exist found here.

Importance of Fitness

Every bit Bobadilla mentioned, fitness is a disquisitional part of succeeding as a referee. Many think soccer players have information technology tough – they play for ninety minutes, without any timeouts, rare substitutions, and a short halftime break. They tin run upward of 7 miles a game. Nevertheless, a referee'south job is fifty-fifty harder. They must anticipate the activeness of play and position themselves in order to brand the correct calls. Many times, this ways outrunning players that tin can be half their age, and according to data from the US Soccer Federation, they run an average of 12 miles a game.

To prove their physical aptitude, FIFA referees must pass 2 intensive fitness tests that tests both speed and stamina. The first fitness exam requires referees to run xl meters 6 times. This must be completed in half dozen.2 seconds for a male person referee. He is allowed 1 minute and 30 seconds betwixt each sprint. The 2nd test examines stamina in repeated high-intensity runs. He must run 150 meters in 30 seconds, and then must walk fifty meters in 35 seconds. This is repeated twenty times, which is equivalent to 10 laps effectually a rail field.[7]

Unlike like most soccer players, though, referees don't have professional person trainers. They must make time outside their day jobs to stay in top physical status. For instance, Brian Hall, the terminal American referee to officiate in the World Cup, exercised 4 hours of twenty-four hour period with interval training, weights, and jogging 2 years leading upwards to the Earth Cup. According to Hall:

"It's non an like shooting fish in a barrel task competing with the best players in the world."

-Brian Hall, former Us FIFA referee

Life equally a FIFA Referee

For many FIFA officials, refereeing is non a full-time job. Although French officials are among the best paid in Europe and tin earn an average of €73,000-per-flavor, referees in other countries do not make this much. The tabular array beneath shows a breakdown of how much officials earn per domestic league game:[8]

european-referees-earnings

Globe Loving cup referees brand $50,000 for the tournament, which spans over ii months. While this is a sizable sum, this is only awarded to the ten best FIFA referees. Not all FIFA referees are granted this type of financial advantage.

Many referees hold full-time or part-time in improver to refereeing international matches. Scottish official Craig Thomson worked equally a full-fourth dimension solicitor and FIFA referee until he could no longer rest the ii. Thomson set his sights on beingness selected for the World Cup and decided to go only a office-time solicitor as a result.

"I was a full-fourth dimension solicitor who went part-time as I knew I couldn't balance the law and football unless I adjusted my lifestyle. My wife and family unit had to put up with domestic life being disrupted because of my football schedule."

-Craig Thomson, FIFA referee and 2014 World Loving cup candidate

Thomson is not the only referee that has been forced to make a major determination nearly his career exterior of soccer. Brian Hall cut back on his eight-to-7 office job every bit a vice president for procurement at Visa and a software managing director in physical preparation for the Earth Loving cup. Others, like Elias Bazakos who was named to the FIFA listing of referees in 2012, sacrificed soccer. After working i year in the MLS, Elias took a 4-year sabbatical to cease his medical residency. He now works a neurologist in Minneapolis.[9]

FIFA'south Push for Professionalism

In August 2010, FIFA President Sepp Blatter announced that only full-time referees will be chosen for the 2014 Globe Loving cup. Blatter claims,

"Nosotros must do something for the acme referees. Yous tin can't accept non-professional referees in professional football."
-Sepp Blatter, FIFA President

This change was instigated by a series of high-profile errors by Earth Loving cup referees in South Africa, where but ii of the 30 selected officials listed refereeing as their full-time chore. In South Africa, the ii professionals (Howard Webb of England and Yuichi Nishimura of Nihon) were rewarded by being selected to officiate in the World Cup terminal – Webb as the head referee and Nishimura as the quaternary official. Webb took an extended get out of absence from his job as a policeman because the EPL helps to fund a roster of professional lucifer officials.

Still, not all agree with Blatter on this affair. Maxwell Calloway, a contributor on the Yahoo Voices network, argues that referees have a much simpler "working day" than players and are capable of property another job. Many referees have part-time or full-time jobs and brand 50 to 100 percent more at their "real jobs" than from officiating. Calloway believes that unless FIFA can compensate for this income gap equally well as provide the same health benefits, pension and retirement funds, this is an unfair demand.

World Cup Pick Process

World Loving cup referees are chosen nether FIFA regulation. The process lasts iii years and is managed by the FIFA Refereeing Department and FIFA Referee Aid Program (RAP). Referees are chosen in teams of 3, with i designated head referee and 2 assistant referees.

The option procedure for the 2014 Brazil World Cup began with the Society World Cup in Nippon when referees of the tournament were examined to see if they were set to be candidates for 2014. Based on referee performance, the FIFA Refereeing Section created a list of the 52 most elite referee teams. Nonetheless, this list will exist open until 2014 – if a referee does non pass fitness tests or fails in another mode, he will no longer exist considered.

Massimo Busacca is a one-time FIFA referee and now head of the FIFA Referee'due south Section. Busacca, who refereed for 22 years and officiated at more 100 top-level international matches, will pb the commission in charge of selecting the referees for 2014. According to Busacca, of import factors to consider include testing of the game's rules and regulations and physical and mental preparedness. Busacca'south focus for 2014 is on preparation:

"My priority is to create this group of elite referees, and we desire to work in a professional mode. We want to improve them like players are improving day-by-twenty-four hour period through training sessions."

Busacca sees the World Cup referees as an additional national team and himself every bit its coach. In an interview with Fifa.com, he explains, "We must be like a football game squad, must live and breathe football every mean solar day."[10]

RAP was first introduced in 2007 and used in preparation for the 2010 World Loving cup to professionalize referees at both the national and international level.[11] Fifty-four referee teams went into the inaugural program and had their performances at FIFA tournaments evaluated. The plan consisted of monthly fitness monitoring, psychological analyses of game demeanor, and seminars on the laws of the game. For the 30 teams selected to officiate in the World Cup, sports psychologists helped the officials to develop a personalized strategy to with the pressures. RAP instructors also maintain shut contact with referees throughout the World Cup to hash out concerns.

2014 World Cup candidates met in Zurich in September 2012 for a workshop focused on their fettle, medical data, theory, and match analysis. Scout highlights from the workshop in the video below:

The following is the list of referees that was selected for the 2014 World Loving cup by region. Notable was the first American referee to exist selected since 2002.[12]

Asia: Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan), Yuichi Nishimura (Japan), Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain), Ben Williams (Australia)

Africa: Noumandiez Doue (Cote d'ivoire), Bakary Gassama (The gambia), Djamel Haimoudi (People's democratic republic of algeria)

CONCACAF: Joel Aguilar (El Salvador), Marking Geiger (United states of america), Marco Rodriguez Moreno (Mexico)

South America: Enrique Osses (Republic of chile), Nestor Pitana (Argentina), Wilmar Roldan (Colombia), Sandro Ricci (Brazil), Carlos Vera Rodriguez (Ecuador)

Oceania: Peter O'Leary (New Zealand)

Europe: Felix Brych (Germany), Cuneyt Cakir (Turkey), Jonas Eriksson (Sweden), Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands), Milorad Mazic (Serbia), Pedro Proenca (Portugal), Nicola Rizzoli (Italian republic), Carlos Velasco Carballo (Spain), Howard Webb (England)

A video on a briefing for referee preparation for the 2014 Earth Loving cup: