We know the often staggering salaries of professional footballers, but what about the referees who supervise them in Ligue 1 matches?
According to information from our colleagues from
L'Equipe
, their remuneration has changed a lot in recent years thanks to the professionalization of the profession: the annual budget allocated to referees by the Football League thus amounted to 17 million euros for the 2021-2022 season, compared to 2.8 million euros in 2004-2005.
An amount that can climb to 25 million euros if we add the VAR part and goal-line technology.
An arbitrator receives a fixed salary of 6,497 euros gross, for the federals.
Remuneration is 4,188 euros for “Elite” assistants and 2,291 euros for “non-Elite” assistants.
To this fixed part are added match bonuses, depending on the role of the referee.
In Ligue 1, the "man in black" will receive 3,029 euros gross if he officiates in the center of the field, 1,478 euros if he is an assistant and 1,000 euros if he operates in video assistance.
In Ligue 2, the bonuses are significantly lower: 1,583 euros for a central referee and 711 euros for an assistant.
125,000 euros a year in Ligue 1
In addition, the referees are entitled to a few bonuses: an allowance of 2,000 euros gross for those engaged in the UEFA Elite Group, a travel allowance of 62.50 euros, mileage allowances of 0.401 euro, a match bonus for the France (from 619.20 euros to 3,666 euros depending on the importance of the meeting)…
As L'Equipe
reminds us
, a referee has a wobbly status: he is neither an employee nor a total contractor.
But the money received each year allows him to present an annual income of 125,000 euros in Ligue 1. It is almost, still according to
L'Equipe
, the amount that a professional player receives... per month.
A footballer earns an average of 100,000 euros gross monthly, even if this amount drops when you withdraw the salaries of PSG stars (67,000 euros gross).
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