SUMMARY
- It has always been a curious thing to know about the salary figures of the soccer referees who officiate the game and control the player's on-field actions.
- In England's top-flight league of Premier League, a referee usually makes about £3,245 ($4,128.61) per month.
There have been many transfers in the soccer world overseeing a drastic sum of money being traded by the clubs for acquiring players. However, it has always been a curious thing to know about the salary figures of the soccer referees who officiate the game and control the player’s on-field actions.
Referees over the years have been involved in making major decisions. They dictate the play during crunch moments of a soccer match. However, the recent introduction of VAR (Video Assistant Referees) has come as both a boon and a bane for the on-field referees.
The VAR has made it easy for the in-ground officials to take calls such as the offsides, and the final-third fouls. But, it has also increased the dependency of the referees towards the VAR’s control room. Here we take a look at the remuneration figures of the soccer referees and the VAR officials around the top five leagues of Europe.
How much do soccer referees make per match in the top 5 leagues of Europe?
In England’s top-flight league of Premier League, a referee usually makes about £3,245 ($4,128.61) per month. However, the salary figures for referees in Spain are higher than English league. Referees are reported to be making around £11,000 ($13,997.84) per month in La Liga.
The French league known as the Ligue 1 also pays a decent sum of wages to its match officials. Referees in Ligue 1 are deemed to be paid around £5,270 ($6,705) every month. However, the German soccer league Bundesliga pays its referees on three different levels.
The average monthly salary of referees in the German league is approximately £3,925 ($4,993). The Italian league of Seria A is reported to be paying an average monthly salary figure of £4,562 ($5,804.23). These figures might seem quite decent in terms of wages acquired. But, they fall quite short when compared to the salaries that the soccer players get.
VAR officials’ salary figure in Europe’s top 5 leagues
As far as the reported figure goes, VAR (Video Assistant Referees) are termed to be paid around £850 ($1,081) per game in England’s Premier League. The VAR officials in Spain’s La Liga are paid about £1800 ($2,290.82) for a league match. In Ligue 1 in France, VAR officials see a downfall in per-game wages. They are paid close to £800 ($1,017.86) per match.
Germany’s Bundesliga reportedly lends a per-match fee of around £950 ($1,208.71) to their VAR officials. Italian top-flight league of Seria A holds the second spot after Spain’s La Liga in terms of Video Assistant Referee’s wages. Seria A pays a sum of about £1300 ($1654.04) per game to its VAR officials. On average, a VAR official makes about £50K-£60K ($63.6K -$76.3K) in each season.
How much do referees earn in the Major League Soccer (MLS)?
The American Soccer League of MLS has certainly seen a major rise in its popularity over the last year or so. It has been majorly credited to the arrival of Lionel Messi at Inter Miami. However, with a greater amount of viewership around the club, there comes a responsibility for the league to ensure a high standard of officiating.
MLS may need replacement officials after referees vote to strike https://t.co/xxEBNvrN6e
— Guardian US (@GuardianUS) January 23, 2024
Reports suggest that the average annual salary figure for referees in MLS comes to the mark of $40,000. It has been termed that the referees with more experience are given higher wages as compared to those who are slightly less experienced.
Higher level referees are paid an annual salary figure of about $190,000-$200,000. The league has majorly divided its referees into four pay levels. Starting from level one, MLS referees go to the level four. However, in comparison to Europe’s top leagues, MLS referees still receive a slightly lower financial leverage. How these salary figures shape up shortly, remains to be seen.