The determinants of the intention to continue voluntary football refereeing

•The determinants of the intention to continue refereeing are investigated.•Experiences during voluntary refereeing tend to be more important than motives.•The compatibility with occupational and private life is found to be most important.•Sport federations can exploit the findings to improve their retention strategies.Competitive sports require a regulating body of referees to enforce the rules for the effective operation of the game. However, the number of referees is generally decreasing, leading to organisational problems at the amateur level. The purpose of this research is to identify the factors that determine the intention to continue voluntary refereeing in the context of football in Germany. Combining several concepts as predictors, including both the antecedents and the experience of volunteering, in this study, the authors extend the understanding about volunteers’ intentions to continue their activity and address the research gap regarding the analyses of specific volunteer groups such as referees. By means of an online questionnaire, the authors surveyed voluntary football referees in Germany (n = 4541). Regression analysis reveals the motive of self-orientation, respect shown by athletes, coaches, and spectators towards referees, compatibility of refereeing with one’s occupational and private life, perceived organisational support, and referees’ satisfaction to predict referees’ positive intention to continue with their activity. Simultaneously, experiences of offences during refereeing negatively influence this intention, and younger referees show higher intentions to continue their activity than do older referees. Because volunteer recruitment and retention are expensive, the findings of this study facilitate the improvement of effective retention strategies for the federations responsible for referees.