Switzerland’s top football referees become professionals as league invests 700,000 francs

Swiss football’s top referees will finally be able to treat officiating as their main professional commitment. The Swiss Football Association and Swiss Football League have introduced 80% positions for eight officials, with the league putting 700,000 Swiss francs behind the change.

The move ends a system in which referees in Switzerland’s top two divisions still needed outside work, at least part time. A Super League referee could work as a lawyer, while another official, Anojen Kanagasingam, had worked 50% at the Swiss Police Institute.

The decision follows years of gradual changes. In 2018, the association hired seven FIFA referees on 50% contracts after Daniel Wermelinger became head of elite refereeing. The costly video assistant referee system followed in 2019, and match-day compensation increased for the 2024-25 season. Referees nevertheless continued to combine the job with other employment.

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missing efforts

The eight officials now covered are Sandro Schärer, Urs Schnyder, Lukas Fähndrich, Luca Cibelli, Alessandro Dudic, Sven Wolfensberger, Kanagasingam and Fedayi San, the only Swiss VAR official in the top category. The reform answers a longstanding complaint that refereeing had received too little institutional support, a concern former FIFA referee Urs Meier raised when he left his Swiss refereeing leadership post 15 years ago.

The article presents professionalization as overdue in a sport where referees’ decisions can affect clubs’ access to millions of francs in European competitions. It also places the Swiss change seven years after VAR was introduced, linking the new contracts to the growing demands placed on officials.

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broad support