Millionaire Premier League stars ‘taunted referee by asking how much earned’

Former Premier League referee Graham Poll said he was regularly taunted by players bragging about their earnings.

Poll was one of the most respected referees to ever blow the whistle in Britain and Europe. Over the course of 26 years in the middle, he refereed 1544 matches and was regularly chosen to oversee the biggest matches.

However, the reputation of being one of the best enforcers did not shield him from the jeers and insults from flustered players. And the Englishman revealed one of the most common jeers hurled towards him.

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“I think what you have to look at is would the standard improve if we paid them more money,” Poll said to CasinosEnLigne, when asked if he believes refereeing would improve if there was a substantial increase in pay. “Refs probably earn in a year what the top players earn in a few days.

“Would players respect refs more if they were paid more? You’d have to ask a player that I was taunted with ‘how much do you get paid’ by millionaire players.

“But you can’t pay refs millions because we’re not here to watch refs. They’re just here to facilitate a game of football.

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“I think if you’ve refereed for 10 or 12 years in the Premier League you shouldn’t be scratching around to earn a living once you’ve stepped down, that’s for sure.”

According to Goal, referees are paid a salary between £38,500 and £42,000, but are paid an extra £1150 for matches they are put in charge of. This means a Premier League referee could earn close to £70,000 per year.

While this is not a salary to be sniffed at, research carried out by the Professional Footballers Association understands the average Premier League player earns around £60,000 per week.

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