Given their growing status as celebrities of the modern game, it was only a matter of time before referees realised there are ways of increasing their earning power.

Like, for example, running off to the Middle East.

Mark Clattenburg is widely regarded as one of the best match officials in the world, a view confirmed by the fact that he refereed both the Euro 2016 final and the Champions League final last year.

But come the end of this season, the 41-year-old will be handing back his FA whistle and moving to Saudi Arabia to take up a role as head of the country’s referees.

And, considering Clattenburg is pretty much in his refereeing prime, it will be a massive loss to the English game.

Of course Clattenburg will tell you his move is all about spreading the beauty of football and good refereeing to a developing football nation. But it isn’t. It’s all about money.

Rumour has it he will be getting paid £500,000 a year in his new position, which is more than four times the maximum he can earn in England.

And, on that basis it is hard to blame him for making a move which has the potential to set him and his family up for life.

Of course Clattenburg’s defection is likely to mark the beginning of a whole new era for referees. If countries like Saudi Arabia are going to start headhunting the best match officials from around Europe, then Europe is going to need to fight back.

I can see a future where the men in black are tied down on contracts, far longer than the ones players sign, with all sorts of clauses entitling their employers to compensation if a referees suddenly decides they are bored of running about in the rain sending off Joey Barton.

And that is fair enough.

I’m pretty sure the English FA would much preferred keeping Clattenburg on their books. But, failing that, they should at least be entitled to a decent ‘transfer’ fee if he suddenly decides it would be more lucrative to blow his whistle in sunnier climes.

After all they trained him, gave him his chance, built up his experience and made him into one of the top officials on the planet. It must be gutting to lose that for nothing. It will be interesting to see how the move affects Clattenburg’s international refereeing situation.

He obviously loves the limelight and probably has his heart set on taking charge of some big games in next summer’s World Cup. Maybe even the final. But will FIFA risk giving such an important role to an official who is no longer taking charge of top level games week-in, week-out? I have my doubts.

Sutton’s incredible FA Cup run ended being overshadowed by a pie

I’d like to think jeopardising their chances of refereeing at the top level would be enough to deter more men in black from following Clattenburg’s lead.

But I suspect for referees, like everyone else involved in football, money talks louder than anything, including international recognition.

Sad but inevitable

While I was incredibly saddened by Claudio Ranieri’s sacking on Thursday, I was in no way surprised by it. What he achieved last season was truly remarkable – guiding his David to the top of a league filled with Goliaths.

Claudio Ranieri was sacked last week after leading unfashionable Leicester City to the Premier League title last season.Claudio Ranieri was sacked last week after leading unfashionable Leicester City to the Premier League title last season.

But, as I have said many a time, it was a freak combination of events that conspired to hand the title to Leicester, not Claudio Ranieri’s genius.

The Italian, likeable as he most certainly is, has had a mediocre career. He didn’t suddenly turn into a cross between Pep Guardiola and Alex Ferguson overnight.

This season the planets are no longer aligned: the rest of the league has got better, the Leicester players have returned to their natural levels and Ranieri has reverted to his old methods of tinkering with the team and fiddling with tactics.

Normal Premier League service has been resumed. And the result of all that Leicester are facing the very real prospect of going from champions to championship in just 12 months.

It was almost entirely inevitable that the Thai owners would hit the panic button with the club just one point above the relegation places with 13 games to go. Sad and wrong, but inevitable.

Some celebrity Leicester fans – Gary Lineker for example – have suggested Ranieri should have been allowed to keep his job even if the club got relegated.

But as much as I agree with that, modern football no longer operates that way.

There is little if any room in today’s game for sentimentality.

The vast sums of money at stake means most, if not all, clubs operate pragmatically without allowing emotion to effect their judgement. And once you take sentiment out of the equation, Claudio became just another manager having a crap season. None of which makes this sacking any less cruel.

Personally I think he should have been allowed the dignity to leave on his own terms. But rumour has it the players had turned against him – those same players who he guided to the greatest achievement of their careers – and when that happens the writing really is on the wall.

Ironically I spent the last 13 games of last season willing Leicester to win. This time I am going to be willing them to lose.

Relegation would be sad for the fans but it would be a just punishment for owners who have no heart and players who have no soul.

Shaw losers

What a shame Sutton’s incredible FA Cup run has ended up being overshadowed by a pie.

This should have been the week when the non-league club got to bask in the limelight of their incredible achievement in reaching the fifth round where they lost to, but weren’t humiliated by, Arsenal.

Sutton’s incredible FA Cup run ended being overshadowed by a pie

Instead, all the media attention has been on Sutton’s reserve goalkeeper Wayne Shaw and the fact that he tucked into a pie while on the bench against the Gunners.

A betting company had offered odds on whether he would eat a pie during the game and ended up paying out a large amount to those who bet he would. And that raised questions as to whether Shaw broke betting regulations.

As a result of all this Shaw has been forced to resign his position at Sutton, where he was not only reserve goalkeeper but also goalkeeping coach and general club caretaker. It really is rather pathetic.

Yes Shaw probably broke a few betting regulations by tucking into the pie. And yes, it was probably not the smartest thing to do all things considered.

But this is not some sinister Malaysian betting syndicate trying to fix matches or influence results.

It was just a “roly-poly goalie” enjoying his moment of fame, having a bit of a laugh and maybe, just maybe, helping a few mates make a few extra pounds on the side.

A few pounds that I am pretty sure the betting company were happy to write off in return for the oceans of publicity they have received this week.

The betting company played Shaw like a banjo. And he is the one who has paid the price with his job.

I’m struggling to find the justice in this…

sportscolumnist@timesofmalta.com
Twitter: @maltablade

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