The Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) is reportedly running out of money. The organization is currently responsible for refereeing English professional soccer matches. PGMOL was previously created back in 2001 when referees officially became professional.
Refs in the organization currently work from the Premier League down to League Two, as well as cup competitions. PGMOL is currently a non-profit organization. As a result, they are essentially funded by the Premier League, English Football League (EFL), and Football Association (FA).
The Guardian is now reporting that PGMOL’s funds have essentially vanished. The organization previously had cash reverses in the neighborhood of around $5.2 million. Nevertheless, increased costs have brought this figure to near zero. Financial issues include the expansion of VAR, as well as raised training fees.
PGMOL needs funds for additional training
According to the news outlet, PGMOL will have enough funds to make it through the current season. The domestic 2024/25 campaign only just began in recent weeks. The annual budget for the group is around $33 million. All three aforementioned soccer organizations contribute to the budget. However, the Premier League currently gives more money to PGMOL than the EFL or FA.
Despite this, Premier League officials have been approached to help provide the PGMOL with additional funds. Negotiations have reportedly already begun between the two sides. Sources at The Guardian suggest that there is growing confidence that an increased budget will be agreed.
Failure to provide more money to PGMOL could see the organization cut regular training programs. As a result, developing referees would seemingly take even longer. Along with this issue, there are concerns over the lack of diversity among the top game officials. At the moment, all top-tier refs to officiate Premier League matches are white men.
“We need to create more churn in the system and then greater diversity will naturally follow,” a source at PGMOL explained to The Guardian. “We need to train referees quicker and promote them faster. At the moment Premier League referees are all middle-aged white men.”
“There are lots of good training programs and initiatives in place, but we need to move quicker. It’s not a big drama at the moment but we need to get the funding issue resolved. The only other option is making cuts and that would make matters worse.”
Lack of additional funding would exacerbate tensions with clubs
Potential cuts would only further create tension between referees and clubs/fans moving forward. English officials are essentially under constant pressure for their decisions. Referees always face criticism, but it has undoubtedly become more prominent in recent years.
Some of the issues have been directly due to the introduction of VAR. Nevertheless, varying interpretations of certain laws are perhaps a bigger problem with refereeing. Personal opinions on rules can vary quite drastically depending on which referee is in place. The intricate handball rule is a perfect example of this.
Bournemouth thought they scored a late winning goal against Newcastle at the weekend. Officials, however, eventually disallowed the score because of an apparent handball after a lengthy review. This was even though replays clearly showed that the ball hit off of the goalscorer’s shoulder, not arm.
With issues still in place at PGMOL, the last thing clubs and fans want to see is even less funding. Along with more diversity within the organization, English referees need all the training they can get.
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