A popular football website has recently analysed how much a referee can earn in Spain per month and has compared the salaries with those offered to the Premier League, the richest league in Europe,
Despite the fact that referees in Spain belong to the Royal Football Federation, their salaries are paid for by the Professional Football League, as it is they who use their services.
As of today, each referee performing in La Liga earns a fixed salary of 11,500 euros per month, regardless of whether they referee or not. In addition, to this data we also show the bonuses that they earn each month.
For each match refereed, they are paid 4,200 euros with most referees averaging two games per month. If they operate as a VAR official, a referee will receive about 2,100 euros. Therefore, if each referee officiates in two games per month on the field and two as a VAR referee he or she will earn approximately 24,000 euros per month, or 300,000 euros per year. All this is without adding the generous allowances that La Liga also pays for.
How much does a referee earn in the Premier League?
The Premier League is considered the richest league in the world, however, in comparison to La Liga it is quite thrifty with what it pays its referees, with those in earning up to three times more.
In the Premier League there is also a fixed salary, but much lower than in Spain. In England, referees earn 3,687 euros per month, which is topped up by a match fee of 1,336 euros for each fixture refereed.
To put it into perspective, one of the biggest matches that I refereed was in Nairobi, the final of the Moi Golden Cup, between Gor Mahia and AFC Leopards. It was played at the National Stadium, and televised live in front of an 80,000 crowd, including President Daniel arap Moi. My match fee was 10 Kenya shillings, approximately 70 cents in today’s money. It was back in 1987, however, and I did get to keep the match ball.
