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REFEREES WANT E720 PER MATCH

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MBABANE – The mediocre allowances for referees is a grave cause for concern for the Referees Association (RA). While the National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS) executive dilly-dallies in looking into the RA’s demand for a 200 per cent increment in match officials allowances, this has left officials certainly exposed to bribes. The ‘men in black’ are paid a mere E240 to officiate a league match and E450 per knockout encounter compared to double and to some treble allowances received by their counterparts across the COSAFA region.


“Not to say they are doing it, but the current allowances rate leaves our referees vulnerable to bribes,” said RA Chairman Sipho Kunene.
Kunene further said it did not serve justice to the profession especially when sponsorship packages for the country’s elite league competitions has shot sky high in recent seasons.
“Our league is among the best sponsored in the continent and inside top 20 brackets. Surely something can be done to improve the welfare of our referees especially because over 50 per cent are unemployed and use the profession for a living,” he said.    


The RA’s duties among others are taking care of match officials’ welfare, pushing their agenda within the NFAS executive and providing courses.
Avid soccer fans are often quick to accuse a referee of match fixing the moment a ‘bad’ call is made. While most of this vehemence is due to the nature of soccer fans, match fixing is quite rampant in FIFA.


In response to match fixing accusations, FIFA has implemented intense security measures. For the 2010 World Cup for example, security guards were set up outside of referees’ hotels, and no direct outside calls were allowed to their rooms.

Because referees are under such intense scrutiny during both the FIFA referee selection process and during the tournament, corrupt officials are harder to find and convict during the World Cup. Referees’ performances are closely monitored. If anyone proves to be particularly error-prone, they are removed from the tournament.

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