Jobu: I agree. You take a check, you do a job. My point was, nobody is making THAT much as a soccer official.
As to the relative merits of young or old officials, I'd say this: Incompetence and lack of effort know no age limit. Several years back, I stood outside the door at an officiating certification class. Inside, a middle-aged slob/official, who was AT LEAST 30 pounds overweight, was railing on how little "young" officials" know or care about the job. He proceeded to blame most "problem" situations on young officials, and he was barely able to drag his sorry butt out of the desk chair. Meanwhile, a handful of teenagers sat and listened to his diatribe, while the instructor did nothing to question his physical or emotional fitness to officiate kids. HELLO?
Last year, I watched a highly regarded older fellow from Columbia work four tournament or post-season games, from the center circle (as ref) or 5 yards behind the play (as AR). This is not a unique problem.
The older guys, for no reason other than seniority, get more and better assignments. Time for our local assigners/evaluators to lop the dead wood and change the face of the game.
