Retaining football referees: exploring the biographical, motivational and organizational challenges for career longevity

Referee retention is a significant concern in football, affecting the sport’s integrity and continuity. While research has highlighted the pressures referees face, few studies have examined the biographical, motivational, and organisational factors influencing their career duration. This article explores the determinants of referee retention through a two-step, data-driven analysis of a unique dataset covering football referees in Madrid over three decades. The findings show that starting refereeing at a younger age and balancing family life are associated with longer careers, while the limited number of women referees in the sample reflects their ongoing underrepresentation. In contrast, altruistic motivations, early career aspirations, experiences of aggression, and low remuneration increase dropout likelihood. These results suggest that current referee development programs, which often focus on technical and competitive performance, overlook broader support needs. We argue for reconfiguring institutional strategies to improve retention by recognising referees not only as rule enforcers but also as professionals facing diverse personal and structural challenges.