Last but not least: Football referees become advertising media

Swiss referees will soon become whistling advertisers. According to former referee Urs Meier, talks are already underway with a potential sponsor, who will be presented in around a month's time. According to the Sonntagszeitung, shirt sponsorship should enable referees to be better remunerated in future. In fact, the current situation of our referees does not look too rosy compared to other countries: While they earn almost 5,500 francs for a 1st Bundesliga match in Germany, they have to make do with 1,000 francs in Switzerland. So a few more francs for our Swiss really couldn't hurt. And what could be more obvious than decorating the men's shirts with more or less discreet advertising? According to Meier, referees offer an attractive advertising environment: "They embody honesty, sincerity and personality," he is quoted as saying in the Sonntagspublikation. However, he does not want to reveal how much this is worth to sponsors and what will be left over for the poor referees.