Michael Oliver earned £3,000 to referee Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr and Al Hilal
Premier League referee Michael Oliver bagged £3,000 to officiate Saudi Arabian clash between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal after being flown in business class – DOUBLE what he earns for a top English game
- Michael Oliver collected around £3,000 to officiate a major match in Saudi Arabia
- He flew business class this week for Al-Nassr’s confrontation with Al-Hilal
- Oliver earned about double what he normally earns in the Premier League
Michael Oliver earned around £3,000 and business class flights when he traveled to Saudi Arabia this week to referee a top match between Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal.
The match fee is about double what he would get for a Premier League game and the hitherto unprecedented move will be repeated in the future with Oliver and other senior England officials.
Howard Webb, the new PGMOL boss, is said to be more relaxed than his predecessors at the Football Association – they previously dealt with such requests from foreign associations – and sees the advantage in his officials working in other domestic leagues, both for reputation and and experience perspective.
Oliver did not have a Champions League game this week and was able to fly to and from Riyadh in just over a day, giving him plenty of recovery time for Liverpool against Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
The Northumberland whistler booked Ronaldo when he knocked down an opponent by the neck.
Michael Oliver earned £3,000 to lead Al-Nassr and Al-Hilal’s clash in Saudi Arabia
Oliver – who collected about double what he does in the Premier League – booked Cristiano Ronaldo (L) when he pulled down an opponent by the neck
Webb, meanwhile, was head of the referees in Saudi Arabia for two years between 2015 and 2017 and is keen to strengthen the ties between the PGMOL and foreign refereeing bodies.
Al-Nassr went on to lose the game 2–0, with former Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo scoring a brace – both from the penalty spot – to dented Ronaldo and Co’s title hopes.
It was Al-Nassr’s first game since firing manager Rudi Garcia, with the game being led by former youth team coach Dinko Jelicic – who has taken over as interim boss.