Recently, CTA-RFEF made an important announcement for the future of the First and Second Division referees and assistants regarding the change of their status as professional athletes in their contracts. On 25 March 2020, the RFEF Delegate Committee gave the green light to this change in the General Regulations relating to the refereeing body. The most important and key aspect lies in their change of name, becoming considered as "professional referee, assistant referee and video assistant referee", also disappearing the age limit for retirement that until last season was set in the Regulations of the RFEF at 45 years. It is exactly the terminology "professional" that will have to wait for now.
The Board of Directors of the Consejo Superior de Deportes (CSD) released an unfavorable report regarding the modification of article 167 of the RFEF Regulation, included within those modifications approved by the aforementioned Delegate Committee of the RFEF. In section 1, the referees are attributed the status of professional athlete, a consideration that the report considers "It is not justified, since it is not included in the Royal Decree 1006 that regulates the employment relationship of professional athletes, nor is this situation recognized by jurisprudence". This negative report ended up being imposed and for the moment denying this condition to the refereeing body. Accepting it would mean modifying the aforementioned Royal Decree 1006 and allowing both the football refereeing establishment and the rest of sports to benefit from this condition. Something that should be like that, but legally has enormous complexity. Hence, at the moment the referee and assistant of First and Second Divisions are to be considered as "professionalized", not “professional”. This small setback, which Luis Rubiales himself recognized in his recent re-election as president and said that they will continue to fight because the referees are professionals, does not affect their recent job change because on 1 September 2020 all referees, assistants and referees signed their first contract, which is 14 pages long and ties them with the RFEF for one season. Specifically from this first day of September until 30 June 2021. Furthermore, this new employment regulation scenario implies that professional football refereeing becomes dependent on the Social Security regime. This season, this contract also gives them the possibility of being able to combine their refereeing activities with other work, but from next season it will mean an exclusive dedication. In the cases where it will not be possible, the referee must waive 10% of the amount received from the refereeing body. The employer will fully pays all the amounts that the refereeing body is entitled to receive as a result of the signing of the professional refereeing agreement by Javier Tebas and Luis Rubiales in August 2018, exceeding 16 million euros in terms of salaries of the referees, assistants and VARs. Then there are other items in terms of travel, courses, etc. In addition, and under this new labour regime, it is also the Professional League itself that assumes the expenses of Social Security, which amounts to 2 million euros.
Source: Sport
