Retired FIFA badged referee, Dr. Alex Mana has revealed that for every rigorous run around in the fast paced Nigerian football season, all that the Nigerian referee make for this hectic exertion of over 90 minutes is a wage of two hundred thirty-six dollars and ninety-six cents ($231.96).

 Dr. Alex Mana made this shocking revelation while trying to debunk what he termed a “rumor milling around that Nigerian referees are not being paid their fair share of indemnities” in carrying out their highly tasking trade.

Mana in a chat with Sports Joust disclosed that Nigerian referees receive a sum of one hundred and seventy five thousand naira (₦175,000) per match during the recently concluded league season, adding that referees in every part of the world are supposed to be well remunerated without any bias.

“We pay referees based on the distance or how far they go (they travel). Feeding and accommodation are not included in the package.  Nigeria has always been paying referees accordingly even when I was in service,” he said.

“This development has helped the Interim League Management Committee (ILMC) achieve positive results in terms of officiating last season because all the matches were well handled by the referees ” he added.

Dr. Alex Mana also stressed that referees allowances were paid into their various accounts without any interference from members of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF)  and the ILMC officials.

He assured soccer fans that referees are going to put up more brilliant performances next season because the ILMC is planning to increase referees indemnity.

It should be recalled that Soccer fans in recent past have criticized Nigerian referees for poor officiating, bribery and favoritism because they’re not well paid.

Compared to referees in the United States of America’s Major League Soccer (MSL) for instance, a huge chasm exists between referee remuneration in the MSL and in the Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) for the same 90 minutes of work per game.

An MSL referee in Texas for example makes an average of nineteen dollars/hour ($19/hour) or one thousand, seven hundred and ten dollars/match ($1,710 per game).

This translates to, one million, two hundred and ninety thousand, one hundred and nine naira, fifty kobo (₦1, 290, 109.50) for the same 90 minutes of exertion in a game.

In the English Premier League (EPL) on the other hand, it is reported that referees make between £38,500 ($46,600) and £42,000 ($50,820), based on experience, which can rack up their total income as high as £70,000 ($84,700).