Spain’s La Liga Reportedly Boasts The Highest-Paid Soccer Referees—And That Includes Mateu Lahoz

Spanish top-tier referees are the best paid in their field by some distance, according to a report in El Correo on Thursday.

The Basque publication said La Liga’s referees earn between €300,000 ($327,000) and €400,000 ($436,000) in gross annual pay (Spanish) from La Liga under the provision of the national soccer federation (RFEF).

It added that while the first division’s 20 Spanish officials receive €12,500 ($13,630) in base installments every month, they earn add-ons for each domestic league and Champions League game, plus bonuses for being on video assistant referee (VAR) duty—paydays that easily outmuscle those in the equivalent Liga Iberdrola, Spain’s elite domestic women’s championship.

Strikingly, these figures are supposedly much higher than referee salaries in other competitions, too, namely the English Premier League—broadly acknowledged as having more viewers worldwide than its main European rivals: Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A, and France’s Ligue 1, alongside La Liga. By El Correo’s findings, incomes typically triple those in the Premier League.

In truth, this has been shaping up for a while. Since RFEF president Luis Rubiales started his tenure five years ago, Spanish referees’ earnings have increased sharply. Yet, while a Marca report in 2018 hinted their soon-to-be unparalleled pay would reach around €296,000 ($322,750) by this season, the previous figures suggest they have now surpassed this forecast.

Able to offer more, La Liga covering social security costs has presumably contributed to these superior numbers, which are unsurprisingly still well below those boasted by most players in the professional game. How they compare to officials from other nations demands closer attention, though.

Refereeing is no more superior in Spain than elsewhere. Like every division, controversy surrounds its on-field decisions—especially since VAR’s introduction. A memorable example from this campaign arrived on the south coast when Cádiz filed an official complaint after being denied a probable three points against lowly Elche, courtesy of an equalizer that was offside, as replays proved.

While there have indeed been controversial incidents, perhaps the more glaring takeaway is one person. Valencia-born referee Mateu Lahoz is frequently the center of attention in Spain and abroad, so much so that he sometimes consumes just as much air time as players in and around the critical games—whether it’s a clásico or a tense international match.

A no-nonsense man who splits opinions, Lahoz’s officiating style draws both admiration and bewilderment. Still regarded as a high-profile officiator, it’s not all been rosy for him, either. After brandishing 17 cards in a World Cup quarterfinal between Argentina and the Netherlands in Qatar, Lahoz was dismissed from last year’s tournament early, only to show 18 when Barcelona faced neighbor Espanyol—another chaotic display that led to a suspension.

Assuming his yearly income is among the highest, it demonstrates how bizarre this situation is, especially when you consider that frontrunner Barcelona is under UEFA investigation over payments to Enriquez Negreira, a former vice-president in Spain’s refereeing committee. Most of the dollars are in Spanish hands, even though it’s confusing to see how they add up.