One of the most decorated referees in contemporary soccer Howard Webb, whose last important assignment was the final of Brazil world cup, has retired form refereeing duties and become the technical director of the body that selects and mentors Premier league officials;. This is actually a significant surge in his 25-year-long career filled with many adoring feats including officiating both Championship and world cup games in the same year – a unique coup he achieved back in 2010. The 43-year-old former English referee is known for his strict decisions throughout his career that included as well many controversial ones, but he has never been seen under any kind of pressure irrespective of the teams he is engaged with. These days, when most of the young referees found to be demoralized with the growing use of technology, Webb is one of the few who never advocated use of ay technical gadget into the field that could build an undue pressure over the in-field referees.
Webb used to be the police officer before he got interested in more challenging job and now he is on the position where most of the players respect him for his die-hard addiction to the game. His 25-year-old career is indeed a most decorated among his parallel referees who could not achieve the feats he successfully did. His new job requires him to mentor and guide future referees especially how to tune up with changing technological environment where Goal line technology is fast spreading like a wildfire. His new job with Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) gives him more scope to use his longest experience for the benefit of the game. Sharing his excitement, longest running FIFA international referee said, “I am very excited to start this new chapter in my career after a wonderfully rewarding 25 years on the pitch. I have spent over a decade with the best seat in the house for Barclays Premier League matches, been lucky enough to be involved in nine UEFA and FIFA tournaments, and taken charge of the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup finals.
“Refereeing has given me so much and it’s important that match officials who have had the rewards remain in the game to pass on their knowledge. I also have much more to learn about the business of refereeing and the best place for me to do that is with PGMOL. It’s an incredibly positive working environment and we all have a common goal of improving refereeing.”