The Hyundai A-League will have full time referees for the first time in the competition's history.
After stinging criticism of referees at times last season, the FFA made the announcement on Tuesday morning that there will be three professional full time referees for next season.
In past seasons, all A-League referees have been part-time.
The FFA will decide who gets the positions next month, with the contacts to be two years in length.
Head of the A-League Damien de Bohun said it is a great step to further improve the standard of the A-league for years to come.
"We have been working towards this outcome for the past three years and we are proud to announce that we are able to appoint our first professional referees for the upcoming Hyundai A-League season," de Bohun said.
“I must give credit to Ben Wilson, our Director of Referees, who has worked hard to improve the conditions and professionalism of our all our matches officials.
“The concept of professional referees has been warmly welcomed by the Hyundai A-League club chairmen when they were formally advised last week.
“By having our best referees become full-time professionals, we will be giving them every opportunity to prepare themselves physically and mentally for each match so they can perform at their optimum level each week.”.
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