An employee in a municipality, an owner of a hair studio, a lieutenant-colonel, a doctorate in law, an actor and a former maths teacher will put their day jobs on hold and head to Russia. Each will want to be there till the end of the World Cup and yet, to a person, they will not want to be noticed. Because only that guarantees job satisfaction for football referees.
Some like Alireza Fagnani, who works in a municipality, walked in their father’s footsteps. Uzbekistan’s Ravshan Irmatov was aspiring to be a coach --- after injury ended his football career when he was a teenager --- when he took up the whistle in a youth game because the referee didn’t turn up. Mark Geiger started refereeing when he was 13 because he wanted to earn a few dollars more and Szymon Marciniak began lessons after being shown the red card by a referee who asked him whether he could do any better.
A few of them such as Irmatov, Janny Sikazwe, Néstor Pitana and Matthew Conger are teachers. Pitana has also had a blink-and-you miss role in a film. Geiger used to school children in mathematics for 17 years before becoming a full-time ref. When he has the time, Geiger assists his brother who is a school cross-country coach. The much decorated Cüneyt Çakır sells insurance and Malang Diedhiou is with the customs department where he is a lieutenant-colonel. And Felix Brych has completed his PhD in law.
{{/usCountry}}A few of them such as Irmatov, Janny Sikazwe, Néstor Pitana and Matthew Conger are teachers. Pitana has also had a blink-and-you miss role in a film. Geiger used to school children in mathematics for 17 years before becoming a full-time ref. When he has the time, Geiger assists his brother who is a school cross-country coach. The much decorated Cüneyt Çakır sells insurance and Malang Diedhiou is with the customs department where he is a lieutenant-colonel. And Felix Brych has completed his PhD in law.
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Many of the players and coaches who bow to their authority are multi-millionaires and that doesn’t make the job of the referees, who could be paid up to $70,000 and $3000 as match fee according to goal.com and the website Quora, any easier. The pay packet is a raise from the $35,000-$50,000 they got in 2014.
So, like players and coaches, they often do their own quirky things as they get ready for a game. Part of Geiger’s preparations is throwing up. Brazil’s Sandro Ricci removes his wedding ring before every game and gives it four kisses. One each for the four most important women in my life: my mother, my wife and my two daughters, he told FIFA.com before the 2014 finals.
Soon after the names were announced, the referees attended a two-week preparatory camp in Coverciano, Italy. Getting ready for the World Cup is an almost two-year project during which they have to maintain fitness standards, meet diet requirements and stay up to speed with the laws. No one knows how many games they will get yet --- initial postings will be decided on June 4 after another seminar ---- but for each one this is a dream assignment. One where a nightmare is never far away.