FIFA boss promotes pro referees
Tuesday, 8 March 2005FIFA president Sepp Blatter today stepped up his campaign for professional referees by claiming such a move would help prevent corruption involving match officials.
Blatter believes that 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.
"Human beings are human beings and they will always be open to temptations. We just have to try and reduce these temptations."
FIFA's executive committee have voiced their total support for the way the German FA is handling the situation.
It has also instructed FIFA's ethics and fair play committee to draw up a list of steps that could be taken to prevent further corruption.
One idea the ethics committee will look at is whether it is practical to only appoint referees the day before a match takes place.
