{"id":938210,"date":"2026-05-05T00:47:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T00:47:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/938210\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T00:47:23","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T00:47:23","slug":"how-much-do-world-snooker-championship-referees-get-paid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/938210\/","title":{"rendered":"How much do World Snooker Championship referees get paid?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Snooker Championship is reaching its conclusion at the Crucible and the referees will come under the spotlight again<\/p>\n

Refree Desislava Bozhilova re-spots the pink ball back on the table at the World Snooker Championships(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

They are the calm, composed figures at the heart of every frame at the World Snooker Championship – but how much do referees actually earn for officiating on the sport\u2019s biggest stage?<\/p>\n

Becoming a top-level snooker referee is no quick route to fame or fortune.<\/p>\n

It requires years of experience, passing exams and working through the lower tiers before earning the chance to officiate at elite ranking events, including the sport\u2019s showpiece at the Crucible Theatre.<\/p>\n

While they may not deal with the same level of confrontation seen in sports like football or rugby, referees in snooker still play a crucial role.<\/p>\n

How much are they paid?<\/p>\n

Exact salaries are not publicly disclosed, but estimates provide a clear picture of how earnings stack up.<\/p>\n

At entry level, referees can earn around \u00a34,000 as a base salary, with match fees of roughly \u00a350 as they build experience.<\/p>\n

At the professional level, referees are thought to earn a base salary of around \u00a320,000 per year<\/strong>, supplemented by match fees.<\/p>\n

For major tournaments, those fees can exceed \u00a3500<\/strong> per match<\/strong> – meaning officials working deep into events like the World Championship can significantly boost their earnings.<\/p>\n

Lower-tier events may pay as little as \u00a370 per match, highlighting the wide variation depending on the level of competition.<\/p>\n

Governing bodies also typically cover travel, accommodation and food expenses for major tournaments, which adds further value to the role.<\/p>\n

Who are the top referees?<\/p>\n

Some of the sport\u2019s most recognisable officials, including Jan Verhaas, Paul Collier and Olivier Marteel, have officiated multiple world finals.<\/p>\n

These officials operate at the very top of the game, where consistency, authority and composure are essential.<\/p>\n

What about female referees?<\/p>\n

The number of female referees in the men\u2019s professional game has grown significantly in recent years.<\/p>\n

Trailblazer Michaela Tabb made history by becoming the first woman to referee a World Championship final, overseeing victories for John Higgins and Ronnie O’Sullivan.<\/p>\n

Since then, officials such as Desislava Bozhilova, who took charge of last year’s World Championship final, and Tatiana Woollaston have become established figures on the tour, with Bozhilova reportedly among the highest-paid female referees.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The World Snooker Championship is reaching its conclusion at the Crucible and the referees will come under the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":938211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,393,4884,1620,10380,16,15],"class_list":["post-938210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sheffield","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-sheffield","tag-snooker","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116519216677515448","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=938210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/938211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=938210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=938210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=938210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}