Former referee Keith Hackett is expecting an influx of foreign referees in the Premier League to compensate for the lack of talent in England’s top flight.
The prediction follows Mark Clattenburg’s decision to quit the English game and make a move to Saudi Arabia to take up a role with the nation’s Football Federation.
Clattenburg, widely regarded as one of the best referees in the world, enjoyed a year to remember after officiating the FA Cup final, Champions League final and European Championships final in 2016.
And Hackett, speaking on the Hawksbee and Jacobs show, fears Clattenburg’s departure has left the Premier League with a severe lack of top class referees.
“The way I see it as that we __have 10 Premier League games every week and I think we now probably __have four – perhaps five at a maximum – who are capable of delivering top class performances on a regular basis. That’s how bad it is,” Hackett said.
“There may be a need to bring in overseas referees. The PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) have an obligation to deliver an array of world class referees to the Premier League, that’s what it’s supposed to be doing.
“I think its struggling from a succession planning point of view and the coaching doesn’t set me alight. You have Eddie Wolstenholme who was a mediocre Premier League referee and he’s the coach. And the guy who is charge of all the coaches is from [a] badminton [background].”