Saudi Arabia plans to lure Europe’s top referees

Saudi Arabia are looking to recruit leading referees from the Premier League and across Europe on a full-time basis after spending more than £800 million on players, Report informs, citing The Times.

The development is likely to be a major concern for the European leagues should their best referees leave for Saudi Arabia.

Salaries for referees in the Premier League range from £120,000 to £300,000 a year for the top earners, but those figures could be dwarfed by potential earnings in Saudi Arabia. The transfer spending by the Pro League over the summer was second only to the Premier League.