Are referees under-paid?

When the referees meet the high standards expected of players then they should be paid more. Perhaps performance pay would provide better incentive. Fines for ridiculous mistakes and bonuses for mistake free games.

The issue is that there is only one employer while players may change employed. Offficials needs a union as inividually they lacks negotiation power.

As far as I can see, being a referee is a lot like being a Policeman, if you are in it for the money, you are in the wrong job.

I don't know where you got your data from, but by googling "football referee salaries europe" I came across several sources stating much higher wages.

As an aspiring top class official I have some insight to this. - many officials have full time jobs and therefore cannot dedicate more than 2 formal sessions a week to training- if the salary was higher more people would be willing to sacrifice their professional career to further their officiating career. - officials in most sports have to be as fit as the athletes they are umpiring (without the contact and strength aspects). If a player trains 3 or 4 times a week plus full time conditioning etc...should officials have the same treatment... - most people become involved in officiating as a way to stay involved in a sport they love! Who would say no to being paid to be up close and personal with some of the greatest sportsman going around? If you can hold a whistle have a crack instead of sitting on the lounge at home! - the opportunity to be involved in a finals series/grand final is enough incentive to perform well. Like a player this is the pinnacle of the season- there are already financial rewards associated with doing these games.

We would be up the creek if they decided to go on strike for the weekend.

Great post AJL. People don't get into refereeing to make money, they do it out of a love for the game, no matter how poor some of them are at it. Sure it's a difficult job and the few school games I had to do when teaching dissuaded me from pursuing that as a career. Not because of abuse but because of the need to read play, see clearly and get yourself into position to make the right decision. Having coached at various amateur levels for 26 years I have had some need to rant at times (we had a penalty count of 14-1 against us in a semi in U10s) but Í've also seen people who, rather than just getting upset, go over the top and embarrass themselves. I've heard similar stories from all other codes of footy (soccer is terrible) and even at sports like swimming and netball. There are a lot of idiots out there trying to live out their dreams through their kids. You need a thick skin and a sense of humour to handle them

You have missed the point. The argument about paying them more is not about current referees. With better pay more people would want to do it and you would get a better talent pool. If you deny that well you are denying a whole economic literature on labour supply.

Not really. Since this particular parra player is currently a NSW/Australia representative, and former Dally M medal winner.

Does anyone else see the irony of a parra player labeling the performance of any human being in any field as disgraceful.

I think the issue is are you paying them enough to just be referees or does the current salary levels imply they will be part timers.

Have to disagree allanthus. I think extra money would attract better quality people away from other careers. Many referees of old and including some today are ex-cops (a lof of the skills involved in refereeing and policing are quite similar). I would reckon that if the pay packet of a referee became, say, $150000 then you would have a LOT of cops (among other professions of course) wanting to have a crack at refereeing. Sure beats the abysmally low pay packets they get as cops. With the increased pool of potential candidates, you would surely get a few gun referees out of it. That being said, I actually think the referees are doing a pretty good job at the moment. We all make mistakes.

Last time I checked you got paid more money when you perform well. Whether if you're a player, a commentator, a coach, or a referee if you aren't performing well you aren't going to get more money. So why on earth should we look at paying officials more money when they simply haven't been performing? The first two weeks the refs were showing good form with only the odd mistake here and there, but last week was dreadful in the NRL with a LOT if things missed/incorrectly penalised. And since when were 6 figure yearly sums (American sports) considered underpaid?

The problem is that a) there will never be perfection (or even close to it IMO) and b) most of the complaining comes from vested interests, mainly fans but occasionally players & coaches. No matter how much you pay or how good they become, those interests will find a hook to whine on.

Interesting topic. I became a ref because I love Rugby League, and had given up playing after under 8s because I was hopeless. I kept doing it because I enjoyed it, although the $17 per game for refereeing the little kids was nice for a 14 year old. At the lower levels, it's a good way to keep fit and socialise too. The problem is retaining refs. Teenagers decide something else is a priority, be it sport, school, work, girls or whatever. Also, the culture in League, at least, seems to accept that referees will be abused, which filters down to the junior level. Having to deal with some tool who believes his kid's under 6s game is the NRL Grand Final is no fun, and many decide they'd rather do something else on their Saturday or Sunday mornings.

And bonuses such as success fees, etc.

As far as the AFL is concerned, being an umpire is a second job. There's been a push to change that recently and make umpries full-time professionals. But as it stands, the top umps are getting around $150,000 a year (as a second income stream) and that usually involves 2 formal training sessions per week, 1 video review session/performance analysis and then, on their own time, running - lots of running. Outside of that, they might be an accountant, physio, builder - it's a pretty decent second income for what is techincally a part-time job.

Third Party payments?

I'd have to know the total of their entire income before I could possibly comment.