As international media scrutiny on referees of the 2014 World Cup from just about anyone who cared about the global tournament becomes more harsh, FIFA has somewhat thought of a brilliant solution to at least appease people about the very individuals who are willing to take on such a thankless job.
According to a report by Yahoo News, FIFA has tasked Jonas Eriksson of Sweden to manage US's World Cup opener against Ghana. Eriksson is clearly a fan of football, considering that billionaires who made money in the corporate world would often retire, and say, buy their own football clubs, for one thing. Eriksson formerly holds a stake in a a Swedish media company with offices in Stockholm, Hong Kong and Dubai, and had later sold his 15% share off several years ago for a cool $10 million.
Eriksson was quoted about his reason to switch the life of a wealthy corporate retiree to that of a football game referee, "I've had a fantastic life as a businessman... but since 2011, I've dedicated myself to being a professional referee and I'm having the time of my life."
Being a referee is no joke, especially in football. Aside from equally matching the strength and the stamina of football players during a match, referees would need to have a keen eye and make decisions that could very well oust you out of your refereeing career. However, Yahoo News said Eriksson has done well in the field except for a couple of controversial decisions which include a run-in with Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Pellegrini, who was clearly not happy about Eriksson's call to sent off Martin Demichelis during a crucial Champions League match against Barcelona this year, commented, "It was not a good idea to put a referee from Sweden in charge of such an important match."
Eriksson is clearly not after the money, considering the bank account he already has as compared to the other referees in the tournament. Yahoo News said that this was a good decision indeed considering the proliferation of match-fixing and bribery probes that has been grabbing the headlines all over the world.
"All the money hasn't changed anything, the best thing I do in my life is still refereeing football," he said himself.
