But he says the FFA is committed to expanding Australia’s pool of officiating talent.

Zurich Financial Services today agreed a three-year extension with football’s governing body to support not only A-League referees but also the development of future men and women in the middle.

The announcement was made at the company’s North Sydney headquarters in the presence of A-League officials Mark Shield, Matthew Breeze and Sarah Ho.

Buckley told au.fourfourtwo.com: “It’s a significant injection of funds by Zurich, that’s all I can say about the amount. Refereeing’s not always the glamour side of the game. To have Zurich to support it is really welcome.
“We’re fortunate in Australia that we have some of the best referees in Asia but we can always improve.”

The issue of full-time, professional officials is often raised but Buckley doesn’t see it happening in the A-League, at least not yet.

He said: “Look, it is something we have to consider over time. It would be a very significant financial burden for the FFA to carry at this point in time.
“I think what is more important is that we do have good coaching, that we build the depth of referees so that there’s a greater pool of talent to draw from. With the establishment of the National Youth League and Women’s League, that’s a good breeding ground for the next generation of referees.

“This partnership not only covers the elite level of the game but will now become involved in the referee development program.

“That is a very important change in the partnership. While the elite level of refereeing is crucial to the way we present ourselves there are something like 28,000 games that occur across the country each weekend. That’s an enormous amount of games that have to be officiated.

“It is important that we at the FFA provide the right level of education, the right level of development programs, the right level to coach the coaches who coach the referees and to have a development pathway for all our referees.

“We intend to do that over the coming few years to ensure that we have a national approach to refereeing education and development.

“Mario Van Der Ende will be conducting a review, not only at A-League level but right down to the grass roots to make sure we put in place the best possible education, recruitment and retention programs.”