End of the game: the career exit of elite football referees

This article proposes a sociological examination of FIFA referees' end-of-career. It explains how individuals leave an activity which is based on strong vocational commitment and significant institutional pressure. Based on 85 socio-biographical interviews and the cognitive mapping of referees' career paths, the process that leads a referee to retire will be discussed. Two kinds of end-of-career will be presented: those which are normal, predictable, and anticipated, and others which are unexpected, unpredictable, and sudden. By combining the objective and subjective dimensions, the aim is to understand how the end-of-career is experienced.