Given the abuse and loathing dished out by highly paid but foul-mouthed stars, managers seeking excuses for defeat and fans who see injustice every time the whistle blows, it is already the loneliest job in football.
But yesterday's sudden retirement by one of the world's top referees after receiving death threats from Chelsea supporters leaves the task of keeping order in the increasingly ugly 'beautiful game' bordering on anarchy,
Anders Frisk, who has officiated at scores of vital matches, has reluctantly put away his notebook, whistle and yellow and red cards for the last time.
The respected 42-year-old Swede made the dramatic announcement after he and his family were inundated with threats from followers of the London club who had been victimising them ever since he refereed their Champions' League game in Barcelona in February.
'I have been subjected to things that I couldn't even imagine,' said Frisk, who describes himself as 'a Chelsea fan since boyhood', yesterday. 'I love to referee and I have done it since 1978, but what has happened to me over the last 16 days means it is not worth continuing.
'I won't ever go out on a football pitch again. I am too scared. It is not worth it. Unfortunately that is the way football looks in 2005.'I've had enough. I don't know if I even dare let my kids go to the post office.
'These past 16 days have been the worst in my life as a soccer referee,' added Frisk, who was left with a bloody head earlier this season when he was hit by an object thrown by fans of the Italian club Roma during another Champions League tie.
Detailing a growing catalogue of harassment, Frisk said the campaign of intimidation against him had 'escalated day by day' since his performance on 23 February during Barcelona's 2-1 win in their Camp Nou stadium led to accusations of poor judgment and favouritism towards the home side from Chelsea's temperamental and controversial Portuguese boss, José Mourinho.
'There have been threats on the telephone and via email and post, and my family have also been threatened. I have a big family and I have been worried - anything can apparently happen'.
The threats, most of which had come from England, 'unfortunately' included direct threats to his life, Frisk said. He identified Chelsea fans - who were upset that he had sent off their star striker Didier Drogba - as the chief tormentors, and added that some threats had come from Chelsea supporters in other countries.
Frisk's enforced retirement after 27 years as a referee has brought renewed shame on a sport which is already struggling to defend itself against claims of corruption, hooliganism and misbehaviour by big-name players.
'This is outrageous, and this abuse of referees is getting worse and worse and worse', said a shocked senior official of Uefa, European football's governing body. 'This is getting out of hand. It's disgraceful.'
The Chelsea fans' persecution of Frisk echoes the harassment of the Swiss referee, Urs Meier, by England fans at last year's Euro 2004 tournament after he disallowed a late Sol Campbell goal against Portugal that would have seen England progress to the semi-finals.
For weeks afterwards, Meier received thousands of abusive phone calls and emails after his contact details were published in British tabloid newspapers. He had to be given police protection and was advised by Swiss detectives to go into hiding.
Bo Karlsson, head of referees at the Swedish Football Association, said it was a sad day for football.
'It's terrible that this kind of thing should have to make one of the world's best referees quit. It is a damn shame that it is possible for it to go this far. Anders will have to talk about the details, but the threats have been serious enough for him to decide to quit. We have reached a limit now. We had Urs Meier ... and now we have a similar case. Now it has to end', said Karlsson.
Karlsson launched a thinly veiled attack on Mourinho, implicitly blaming him for needlessly raising the temperature between Chelsea and Barcelona in the weeks between the game in Spain and last Tuesday's second leg, which the Premiership side won 4-2 to go through.
'Managers and the rest of the staff have got to act a lot more responsibly than the players. The players behave just like their leaders.'
After the first match, the Chelsea boss accused Frisk of meeting Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard in his dressing-room at half-time - a clear breach of footballing protocol - but has failed to produce any proof.
The vilification of Frisk marks a new low point for the reputation of English fans, who have recently been casting off their image as troublemakers and receiving plaudits for their conduct abroad.
Officials at the Football Association are already worried that high-profile incidents of Premiership stars verbally abusing referees are encouraging young players to follow suit, and producing a climate in which large numbers of amateur referees and linesmen give up officiating every year because they are fed up with being the whipping-boys for angry, sometimes violent, players, managers and spectators.
Last week the Secondary Heads' Association said that football matches should be shown after the 9pm watershed because the language was so bad. The Premier League is now planning to come down far harder on abusive players, showing red cards to professionals who abuse referees.
Abuse of referees is a global phenomenon which appears to be on the rise, and often involves amateurs as well as professional players. Last December an amateur footballer in Belfast was banned from playing for 30 years for headbutting a referee after a match between two teams of Boys' Brigade veterans. In 2001, Claudio Jerez, a player with a fifth division team in Sweden, was jailed for two years after attacking the referee who had sent him off.
In 2000, referees in Bermuda went on strike after a player in a league match, dismissed for making an obscene gesture to the referee, ran back on to the pitch and punched the official in the face. And in 1999 a referee in South Africa shot dead a player who had produced a knife and lunged at him during a game between rival township sides.
'My daughter said a few days ago that I shouldn't let the bad guys win, but we have talked about it and they understand it', said Frisk yesterday. 'My family is pleased that I am quitting football after this. I haven't slept well for two weeks; hopefully I will now. I love Chelsea and have done since I was a kid. That is why this is especially sad.'
Clashes with the men in black
October 1998
Paul Alcock became the first referee to be pushed to the ground by a player when he was attacked by Sheffield Wednesday's Paolo Di Canio. Di Canio - who had been sent off before assaulting Alcock - was banned for eight games and fined £10,000. Alcock said the incident made him consider giving up the game, but he did continue after that.
November 2003
Graeme Souness, then Blackburn Rovers' manager, was banned from the touchline and fined £10,000 after accusing referee Graham Poll of being 'a Spurs fan' after a series of controversial decisions.
June 2004
Referee Urs Meier dashed England's hopes of an appearance in the Euro 2004 semi-finals when he disallowed a late goal from Sol Campbell. He was subjected to a media-fuelled hate campaign, receiving 16,000 emails, 5,000 abusive phone calls, tabloid humiliation and even death threats. He later quit the game and now sells washing machines.
March 2005
Southampton midfielder David Prutton is serving a record 10-match ban for pushing referee Alan Wiley moments after he had been sent off against Arsenal last month. Prutton pushed Wiley in an attempt to reach the linesman Paul Norman.'It was one of those moments when you seem to lose all control. I was heading for him, shouting and swearing,' said Prutton in an abject apology.
· Additional reporting: Marcus Christenson