Swiss referee Fedayi San warns professional status raises the stakes

Eight Super League referees have been employed as full-time professionals in Swiss football since this season. In an interview with SRF, referee Fedayi San said the new status allowed officials to prepare more thoroughly, but also brought greater pressure and financial insecurity.

“We can prepare for and review matches much better,” San said. Previously, referees had to balance a job, family and top-level football. He can now focus fully on football, which he described as a positive feeling.

San said referees did not expect to go through the season without mistakes. Their aim was to improve, analyse errors more effectively and reduce them. He said football had become faster and more athletic, making refereeing a form of competitive sport.

The number of matches and the pressure from social media had also increased, he said. Any incident could now be shared and commented on immediately. Professional referees train during the week, analyse key weekend incidents with instructors on Mondays and prepare for upcoming matches during a Friday call with an association tactical analyst.

Communication among referees has become more important as well. They now discuss decisions collectively rather than only with their closest colleagues. This makes it harder for players to claim that another referee had allowed something the previous week, San said, because the officials know what happened.

According to the Swiss Football Association, a professional referee earns around 130,000 Swiss francs a year. But San said the professional status could also be lost. “It takes 20 years to build a career, but you can destroy it in one second,” he said. A serious mistake, a wrong reaction or a major injury could bring everything to an end. The security of a regular job that referees previously held alongside football was no longer there.

San said the most difficult moments came when referees were physically confronted on the pitch. On one occasion, a player approached him, pushed him and knocked the red card from his hand. San remained calm and completed the match, but said it would be untrue to claim that he had quickly overcome the incident.

Most referees took up the job because of their love of football, San said. Many had played themselves before realising that a professional playing career was not possible. He began refereeing at a junior tournament and continued after learning that he would earn 70 francs per match.