Euro 2016: Referee Jonas Eriksson will be one of the richest men on the pitch when Wales take on Portugal in semi-final
The minted whistler might not have the same kind of cash as Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale but will be better off than several players on field after netting a £7.3million windfall
REFEREE Jonas Eriksson will be one of the richest men on the field when Wales take on Portugal tonight.
The minted whistler might not have the kind of cash at his disposal that Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale have lying in the bank.
But the Swedish ref, 42, would still be able to spend it like the rest of them having trousered a massive sum from a business deal nine years ago.
And that is likely to mean he has more money than many of the Wales players put together.
All eyes will be on Eriksson's reffing cards in Lyon tonight.
But his bank cards carry just as much weight after he banked £7.3m.
Eriksson used to run a successful sports rights agency until his ten percent stake - along with the rest of the company - was bought out.
The entire transaction cost a mega 73 million meaning the gleeful Swede became a multi-millionaire overnight.
Wales fans will hope that he does not drop any clangers tonight for the biggest game in their history.
The Dragons face Ronaldo and Co in their first semi-final at a major tournament since 1958
But some of their supporters are worried given Eriksson's history of controversy.
He failed to send off Robert Lewandowski in 2013 for elbowing Laurent Koscielny in Arsenal’s Champions League loss to Borussia Dortmund.
And Rangers fans still remember him for waving away penalty claims during their Champions League clash with Sevilla back in 2009.
Gers lost 4-1 on the night and later ended up finishing bottom of the group and dropping out of the tournament
Scotland boss Gordon Strachan said at the time: "[He] should not get another game in the Champions League, he is just not good enough".
The man himself admits that he does not need the work but says refereeing big games is the "best thing" in his life.
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Eriksson said: "The money has not changed anything for me.
"I do not need to blow my whistle just to earn money.
"It is a big passion of me that I would do whether I would be rich or not.
"The best thing in my life is still to referee big football matches."
Super-rich Eriksson is not the only top ref in France this summer to have had success away from the pitch.
Bjorn Kuipers from the Netherlands is a businessman with a degree in Administrative Sciences while Italian ref Nicola Rizzoli is an architect.
Spanish whistler Carlos Velasco Carballo has a degree in engineering and German national Felix Brych is a lawyer in Munich.