Having lured some of European football’s best players to Saudi Arabia, its federation is now targeting referees
The Saudi Arabia football federation has approached leading English Premier League referees including Michael Oliver as well as Szymon Marciniak, who took charge of the World Cup final last December, about the prospect of transferring to work in the new Saudi Pro League.
Approaches thus far are understood to be informal although there is ambition on the Saudi side to appoint the world’s best officials in the same way that they have gone after the game’s best players in their remarkable acquisition spree over the course of this year.
In charge of the recruitment is the former Fifa official, Manuel Navarro, a Swiss national who worked in the world governing body’s referee department for eight years until he moved to the Saudi federation in July 2020. Now the chairman of the SAFF referee association, Navarro was first brought in to bring Saudi officials up to scratch – but the league’s ambitions have raced ahead.
The question of contracts and salaries has not yet been discussed but the Premier League is well aware that it now faces the possibility of attractive offers to some of its leading officials. The referee’s organisation PGMOL, co-owned by the Premier League, the Football League and the Football Association, has permitted its officials to freelance in big games in the Middle East if requested.