"?Arsene Wenger believed referees were able to earn their £45,000-a-year salary in just one game amidst claims that the games decision makers are not paid enough.
Former FIFA referee Keith Hackett claims top officials are "underpaid," earning £45,000-a-year for officiating England's top games.
Hackett, speaking to YouAreTheRef.com, recalls the suprise of Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger when he revealed the salaries of top referees like Mark Clattenburg:
"When speaking with Arsene Wenger he asked how much our professional referees were getting paid. I quoted the then base rate of £45,000.
""?Not bad' was Wenger's response. He then needed to be told that this was for the whole year and not the weekly wage that he thought!"
Hackett continued to state that those in charge of the countries top games deserve more money, whilst those in the championship are being "exploited".
"What value would you put on (Mark) Clattenburg, (Martin) Atkinson, (Craig) Pawson, (Michael) Oliver and (Mike) Dean? Despite the odd critical comment, these guys are underpaid and getting left behind.
"The Select Group two guys are also being exploited, earning £35,000 per year.
"This is not right! There needs to be a change so that we attract the correct people into the professional game. They deserve more."?
With a declining number of people getting into the profession, the game are now putting measures in place to make sure that the numbers and quality of officials improves.
Following on from this season's introduction of new rules that look to limit the amount of aggressive and unacceptable behavior towards referees during games, a significant pay-rise could be the next step to encourage more to get into refereeing.