So evidently, all the World Cup referees are part-timers who have other day jobs. Is this true of referees in the Premiership, La Liga, etc. ?
If not, why doesn’t FIFA get the best pros to do the WC? And if so, has there never been pressure for a league to pony up 1% of Beckhams salary to pay for some full-time refs?
Ironically the one professional referee at the World Cup, the English Premiership’s Graham Poll, was considered to have performed the worst officiating (at least until Ivanov’s display last night). Poll is the ref who infamously gave a player three yellow cards in Croatia v Australia.
So a full time career of refereeing does not necessarily ensure quality.