I think what he meant was, the chance to referee at the Worlds best stadiums, share a pitch with the worlds best players, to be effectively paid a very good wage to be fit and healthy,
Maybe a lot of the reasons for abuse and threats is because the ref is simply that. The ref. He has no personality, no character, no feelings, no family, sometimes not even a name, just the ref. Total generic. Maybe if the ref was someone folk could relate to as an actual person then they might get treated a bit better.
"Be a referee like Micheal and you too could go to the World Cup finals, plus earn 100k per year for being fit" That would work for me.