How much does a football referee earn in Brazil in 2026?
How much does a Série A football referee earn?
A Brazilian Série A referee receives a monthly salary plus a match fee: R$22,000 per month and R$5,500 per match in the FIFA register, or R$16,000 and R$4,000 in the CBF register. In a month with 4 matches, a FIFA-register referee totals R$44,000. Figures published on 04/03/2026.
All sources were checked on July 27, 2026. (OneFootball, March 4, 2026; NSC Total, March 7, 2026)
How much does the CBF pay by role in 2026?
Remuneration has two cumulative parts: a fixed monthly salary paid from March 2026 to professionals who signed with the Professional Refereeing Programme (PRO), and a fee for each match or VAR assignment. The amount depends on whether the professional is in FIFA's international register or the CBF national register.
| Role | Register | Fixed monthly pay | Per match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central referee | FIFA | R$22,000 | R$5,500 |
| Central referee | CBF | R$16,000 | R$4,000 |
| Assistant referee and VAR | FIFA | R$13,200 | R$3,300 |
| Assistant referee and VAR | CBF | R$10,000 | R$2,500 |
Série A 2026 values. (OneFootball, March 4, 2026; NSC Total, March 7, 2026)
Remuneration has two cumulative parts: a fixed monthly salary paid from March 2026 to professionals who signed with the Professional Refereeing Programme (PRO), and a fee for each match or VAR assignment. The amount depends on whether the professional is in FIFA's international register or the CBF national register.
How much does an assistant referee earn?
Assistant referees and video referees receive the same range: R$13,200 fixed per month plus R$3,300 per FIFA-register assignment, and R$10,000 fixed plus R$2,500 per CBF-register match. That is about 60% of the central referee's pay in the same category. (OneFootball, March 4, 2026; NSC Total, March 7, 2026)
How does the CBF Professional Refereeing Programme work?
The PRO created the fixed salary. The CBF offered contracts to 72 professionals — 20 central referees, 40 assistants and 12 video referees — for one year, starting in March 2026. The entity announced about R$ 195 million over 2026/2027 for the programme. (VAVEL Brasil, January 28, 2026)
Before this, Brazilian referees had no salary relationship with the CBF: income came entirely from match fees. None of the contractors has an exclusive arrangement; refereeing remains a second occupation for most.
How much does a FIFA referee earn?
In Brazilian football, a FIFA referee working in Série A receives the values in the table above: R$22,000 per month plus R$5,500 per match.
What does a World Cup referee earn?
FIFA does not publish referee pay. English press reports say referees appointed for the 2026 World Cup may receive more than US$ 100,000 (about R$ 550,000) over the tournament. The figure is reported by English press, not officially confirmed. (Lance!, June 9, 2026)
Why are different figures reported?
There were two announcements. When the programme was presented in February 2026, the press published a table different from the March contracts. The earlier figures were:
- FIFA-register referee: R$ 7,600 per match
- CBF-register referee: R$ 5,500 per match
- FIFA-register assistant and VAR: R$ 4,560 per assignment
- CBF-register VAR: R$ 3,650 per assignment
- CBF-register assistant: R$ 3,300 per match
- fixed salary for the elite group: above R$ 30,000, averaging R$ 13,000 among 72 contractors
(Bahia Notícias, February 2, 2026)
We publish the March values because they are the latest and two independent sources describe the same structure. Where official documents do not resolve the difference, we record it rather than silently choose a number.
Where does the CBF publish refereeing fees?
The CBF Governance Portal has a Refereeing Fee Table, but its available documents are from 2019 and 2020 and contain no recent Série A table. That is why the figures here come from reporting on CBF announcements rather than an official document. (CBF — Governance Portal, 2019/2020 tables; no recent Série A update)
What we do not publish here
We found no current reliable source for the items below, so this page publishes no figures for them. We prefer an absence to an invented number.
- refereeing fees in Série B, C and D in 2026
- fees paid by state federations
- the fourth referee's fee
- Brazilian women's championship fees
- fees for the Brazil Cup and youth competitions
We also do not publish the salary of any individual referee. Green365 referee pages contain officiating statistics — cards, fouls and matches — not personal remuneration.
Sources
- How much does a referee earn in Série A in 2026? — OneFootball, March 4, 2026
- How much does an elite referee earn? — NSC Total, March 7, 2026
- CBF sets fixed and additional values for Série A referees — Bahia Notícias, February 2, 2026
- CBF announces the Professional Refereeing Programme — VAVEL Brasil, January 28, 2026
- FIFA projects record remuneration for World Cup referees — Lance!, June 9, 2026
- Refereeing Fee Table — CBF — Governance Portal, 2019/2020 tables; no recent Série A update
All sources were checked on July 27, 2026. We review this page every 6 months; the next check is planned for January 2027. If a source is removed or cannot be confirmed, we remove the figure. Editorial review: Green365 newsroom. See our Sources. Sources.
Referee statistics on Green365
This page is about remuneration. For cards, fouls and matches officiated by competition, see the complete referee list. Referees.