Blatter calls for refs to go pro to curb corruption

FIFA president Sepp Blatter yesterday stepped up his campaign for professional referees by claiming such a move would help prevent corruption.

Blatter believes if referees stand to lose their job it is more of a deterrent than if they officiate as amateurs.

He was speaking in Zurich, Switzerland, following a meeting of FIFA’s executive committee which was dominated by the German match-fixing scandal. German referee Robert Hoyzer has been arrested and charged with eight cases of complicity to defraud after admitting he accepted money from gamblers to fix matches.

Blatter said: “If someone is not refereeing in professional football as an amateur but as a professional himself, he will think three times because of the possibility of losing his profession.”