Go Min-gook, a former soccer player referee, is one of the 18 referees for the K League 2 (second division) this year. Go was officially promoted from an amateur team along with Choi Il-woo. He became a preliminary referee last year after achieving excellent results in individual ratings and physical fitness tests, and officially became a pro this year.
Koh was an elite player. After graduating from Haksung Middle School and Haksung High School in Ulsan, he transferred to Ulsan Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in 2016 after failing to play in any matches in Jeonbuk, but lost his place as a referee in 2017.
In an interview with ONSIDE, a technical education magazine of the Korea Football Association, referee Ko expressed his feelings about playing a game between Cheonan City FC and Seongnam FC held in October last year.
“I was waiting for the game as a preliminary professional referee, and luckily I saw the referee,” he said. “It was regrettable that I had to do an on-field review when I first played as the referee in a professional game. I just thought, “I missed this, I made a mistake.”
The referee Ko runs a bakery cafe in Ulsan and also serves as a soccer referee.
He explained that it is difficult to make a living on the money he receives while serving as a referee. “It will be the same for other referees. It is difficult to make a living just by being a referee,” he said. “When I listen to referees and juniors, I think about making a living the most.”
“It’s not easy to go to a national competition while working. You have to skip it for as long as 15 days,” he said. “It’s practically hard to get a job, so what I thought of then was starting a bakery cafe.”
“I chose this job not because I have a special dream about coffee, but because it is good to combine with referee activities,” referee Ko said. “Now the store is using staff, and I am focusing on exercise and referee life while doing only a little work.”
He said, “If you want to be a soccer referee, you have to do your day job at the same time,” adding, “You have to give up a lot in order to be a referee for a long time. If conditions improve later on, things could change, but for now, that’s the case,” he said. “You should be prepared to give up playing and invest time in your life as a referee while doing your day job. I don’t think you can do it for long just by thinking that you should give it a try.”
BY: 스포츠토토