WOMEN REFS SEE RED OVER PAY...

PREMIER LEAGUE referees are being paid 20 times more than their counterparts in the Women’s Super League.

Top male officials are trousering towards £100,000 per year, while their female equivalents are being asked to do a job at the same level for a pittance by comparison.

Leading referees, such as Mike Dean (above, right), earn a basic salary – in the region of £42,500 per year – with £1,150 Premier League match fees and Champions League fixtures potentially taking their earnings towards the six-figure salary bracket.

But women referees can find themselves turning out in front of crowds of more than 30,000 paying customers at the Etihad, or a crowd of over 25,000 at Stamford Bridge – as happened earlier this season – for just £120. A yearly take-home of less than £4,000 is the norm.

They also have to go without a weekly retainer, receive no sick, illness or childcare benefits and have to meet the same fitness levels as officials in the Football League to qualify for the job.

Women officials also find themselves evaluated on an equivalent basis as the men in the Premier League and Championship with their decisions in the Super League receiving the same level of scrutiny.

The plight of their assistants is just as bad.

Sian Massey, an assistant in the Premier League, earns a salary of £40,000 and a match fee of £500 if she runs the line in the top flight.

Assistant referees in the Women’s Super League are paid just £60... the same as those working in the men’s National League – the fifth tier of the English game.

A Football Association spokesperson said: “We are fully committed to the development of match officials and we recently appointed a National Refereeing Manager to focus on the women’s professional game.

“We are always open to further discussions with football’s stakeholders about the future professional development of referees as revenues grow in the game.”