by Rod Hughes

Ever wondered what would happen if a soccer referee got a red card? The answer is: apparently, big trouble.

Edgar Duran, a 13-year veteran of officiating Costa Rican soccer matches for the Costa Rican Soccer Federation (FEDEFUT) found himself left off the list of referees this season and wants severance benefits from the soccer body—or else. And FEDEFUT says he is not entitled to any, reports the sports section of Al Dia.

The former referee told the newspaper, “FEDEFUT has to give me a dismissal letter,” so he can go after severance benefits. But the federation’s general secretary Jorge Ortega says he is not entitled to such a letter “because he isn’t an employee of FEDEFUT. We’ll simply send him a letter giving our explanation of why he was left off the panel of referees.” Ortega added that the soccer clubs pay the referees, not his organization.

A member of FEDEFUT’s officialling committee, a former international referee, Berny Ulloa, agrees. “Not one referee has a labor contract with the Federation.”

But Duran says the Federation has given him no option but to fight for his “due process.” He does not discount going to FIFA, the international czar of soccer, an all-powerful organization that administers, as sole monopoly, everything but pickup games in the park on Sunday.

One burning question the newspaper did not ask: How does it feel to vigorously appeal a decision and get no change?