An international-level referee is thought to have a staggering net worth many players would envy, thanks to his business nous in the retail sector.

       Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers may be remembered by some England fans as the man in the middle as the Three Lions lost on penalties to Italy in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley Stadium.

       He had been one of the game's top match officials, having been a FIFA-listed referee since 2006 and a UEFA Elite official since 2009, as per The Sun.

       But off the pitch, Kuipers was said to have made a pretty penny running branches of a Dutch supermarket chain called Jumbo that sponsored Formula 1's superstar Max Verstappen, as per The Telegraph.

       Back in 2016 his net worth was estimated to be ￡11.5 million, and at one stage he was said to be making between ￡2million and ￡3million a year in profit alone, The Sun reports.

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       The 51-year-old hung up his whistle in 2021.

       But even in retirement, his wealth may make him more flush than some current players in the Premier League.

       While some of the Prem's biggest stars have truly vast sums to play with, younger players and those at smaller clubs often earn far less.

       This summer Sports Boom compiled a list of what it said were the 10 lowest paid players in the league, naming the likes of Kourney Hause at Aston Villa, and Wolves' Tommy Doyle, who were said to be on ￡420,004, and ￡520,000 per year, respectively, at the time.

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       The list reflected players’ weekly and annual earnings paid by their clubs for the duration of their contracts and did not include personal endorsements, image rights, and other off-field earnings, the outlet explained.

       Meanwhile, the likes the league's biggest names like Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland reportedly earn around ￡20m a year from their clubs alone.

       One lesser-known footballer has a net worth that eclipses the nest eggs of Cristiana Ronaldo and Lionel Messi combined.

       Faiq Bolkiah, 26, who plays for Ratchaburi in Thai League is a member of the House of Bolkiah, is the nephew of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah.

       He is, therefore, one of a number of heirs to an estimated ￡20billion (about ￡24.2bn) fortune.