The referee in football is seen as one of the most important elements of the game, which cannot be correct without his presence in it, as he is the one who commands and forbids within the field.
It is no secret to anyone that the football referee is the most person in the football system, as he does not become famous or spread his reputation unless he makes mistakes, but when he shines, no one mentions him.
Despite the penetration of technology into the field of arbitration, errors still occur, as the decisions of the referees bear both right and wrong, which sometimes makes the controversy continuous.
Referees are often exposed to violence inside the stadiums, especially in the lower divisions and non-professional levels, while terrible pressure falls on them from all components when they run major league matches.
Unlike the players, the referees stand on the field while they have other jobs, and the reason for this is that professionalism has not yet reached the field of arbitration, which makes the pressure placed on them very great.
Last year, the best referee in the world, Felix Brech, retired, who decided not to practice international arbitration, limiting himself to managing German league matches only.
Felix Bresch topped the list of the best football referees for the year 2021, and Bjorn Kuipers succeeded him, who in turn retired from refereeing matches following managing the Euro 2020 final.
Who is the best referee in the world right now?
Currently, the Italian Daniele Orsato tops the list of the best football referees in 2022, according to the International Federation of Football History and Statistics.
Orsato is the referee who led the Argentina-Croatia match in the 2022 World Cup semi-finals, which ended with Lionel Messi’s comrades winning 3-0.
Italian referee Daniele Orsato also had the honor of officiating the opening match in the 2022 World Cup, between Qatar and Ecuador.
Orsato’s arbitration career began in 2002, and he obtained the international badge in 2010, and he is currently 47 years old, which means that he is on the verge of retirement.
Orsato is the only Italian referee to have participated in the World Cup in Qatar, and has experience in managing major matches, as he previously led the European Champions League final (2019/2020), in which Bayern Munich defeated Paris Saint-Germain with a goal without a response.
Ranking of the best football referees in 2022:
Orsato tops the ranking of the best football referees currently, and is succeeded by the Dutchman Danny Makili, who led major matches during the current year, including the Spain and Germany match in the 2022 World Cup, as well as the Barcelona and Bayern Munich match and the Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain match in the Champions League.
In third place, Frenchman Clement Turpin, who led the 2022 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Liverpool, also participated in the World Cup finals and managed 3 matches, and was one of the candidates to lead the final, had it not been for the rise of his country.
While the referee of the 2022 World Cup final, Simon Marchiniak, is in fourth place, and in addition to the World Cup final, he led other confrontations this year, 10 of which were in the Champions League, and 5 in the European qualifiers for the global wedding.
Here is the ranking of the best football referees currently:
1. Italian Daniele Orsato
2. Dutchman Danny McKelley
3. French Clement Turpin
4. Simon Marchignak
5. Spain’s Antonio Mateo Lahoz
6. Englishman Anthony Taylor
7. Brazilian Wilton Sampaio
8. The Englishman Michael Oliver
9. The American Ismail Al-Fateh
10. South African Victor Gomez
The wages of the best referees in the world 2022:
In the Champions League competition, the Champions League referees are divided into several levels according to their experience and rating, and therefore the “elite” referees receive a salary of more than 6,600 euros per match.
Referees in the lower division receive 4,500 euros per match, while referees in the lowest division receive approximately 850 euros per match.
In the English Premier League, the elite referees receive their basic annual salary between 38,500 and 42,000 pounds sterling, depending on experience, and then 1,150 pounds are paid per match in additional wages (hotel, transportation expenses, etc.).
Elite referees in La Liga get $6,246 per match, while their counterparts in the French League, Italian League and Bundesliga get almost half the amount.
As for the World Cup referees, they receive a contractual salary ranging between 90, 100,000 and 5,000 dollars per match, and that amount may increase according to the evaluation of the technical committee for the matches they managed.
The assistant referees, VAR referees and the fourth official receive half (or slightly more) of the amount the arena referee receives in all competitions.
