Top 10 Highest Paid Football Referees In The World
10. Gianluca Rocchi
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Gianluca Rocchi
He is the last and one of the most experienced Italian referees. He began his career in 1990, has officiated 38 games in three seasons of Serie C, and currently earns about $8,000 per season. He is also one of the hardest-working and most benevolent individuals one could meet in the world of football.
Daniele Orsato is an Italian football referee who has presided over 2014 World Cup and 2012 Euro qualifiers. He will make $8,000 each game in the 2020 UEFA Champions League final between Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich in the 2021 Chelsea vs. Real Madrid UEFA Champions League Semifinals. He was also recognized as a top Football adjudicator in 2020.
Danny Makkelie is a professional football referee from the Netherlands. He also works as a police inspector in Rotterdam and as a referee coach for the Royal Dutch Football Association. Since 2011, he has been on the FIFA list of referees, and as a UEFA Elite official, he officiated in the 2021 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship final. Currently, he makes $8,000 per season.
Antonio Mateu is a Spanish association football referee who has been officiating LA Liga games since 2008. He is also an international referee with experience officiating at the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, 2018 FIFA World Qualifiers, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup. He is best known for his chatty and "quirky" style of refereeing and makes $8000 per season per game.
The French Football Federation named Clement Turpin as the best French referee in May 2016. He has been a FIFA listed referee since 2010, and he has been a member of UEFA Elite group since 2012. In addition, he has officiated World Cup qualifiers in 2014 and 2018 and most recently was seen in a UEFA Europa League game. His annual salary is $10,000.
Felix Brych is a German football referee who currently works for SV Am Heart. He is a FIFA-listed official from the UEFA elite category, and he earns $10,000 for each match. In addition to being a good athlete, Brych is also intelligent, as evidenced by his last name, which indicates that he received a good education. He was selected for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, which will be his second FIFA World Cup.
Former Dutch football referee Björn Kuipers was supported by fellow countrymen Erwin Zeinstra and Sander van Roekel during the game. He has been a FIFA-listed referee since 2006 and a UEFA Elite group referee since 2009. He is a supermarket owner by trade, and on July 29, 2021, it was announced that he would be retiring from refereeing on August 7, 2021. His match fees were about $10,00 per season, and after retirement,
Turkish football referee Cüneyt Akr has been on the FIFA list since 2006 and has been a part of the UEFA Elite since 2010. Due to his membership in UEFA Elite, he additionally receives $10,000 every game. He has been a referee for a very long period, and the International Federation of Football History and Statistics ranked him the second-best referee in the world based on his prior performance from the years 2010 through 2020.
Damir Skomina, a former referee for the UEFA Elite category of football, is a Slovenian national. He is the second-highest paid referee in the world, earning a base wage of $10,000 each game. He presided over the historic 2019–2020 UEFA Champions League quarterfinal encounter between Barcelona and Bayern Munich, in which the team lost 8–2, which was their worse loss in 69 years.
Former Premier League and Durham County Football Association player Mark Clattenburg is also a former FIFA referee. He has officiated big games including the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final and the 2016 UEFA Euro Final and is regarded as one of the top European referees of his time. He is the highest-paid referee, and according to some estimates, he has a deal for $650,00 a season with the Saudi Arabian Football Federation.