Former referee Howard Webb said he was surprised that his colleague Mark Clattenburg decided to follow him in leaving England to become the head official in Saudi Arabia.
"The Premier League will miss him when he moves on," he said.
Clattenburg, 42, announced in February that he would be replacing Webb as the Saudi Arabia Football Federation's head of refereeing after taking charge of the finals at European Championship, the Champions League and the FA Cup in 2016.
In an interview with ESPN'S Sam Borden, Webb said he understood why his countryman decided to move on but admitted that he hadn't expected Clattenburg to give up his Premier League duties until after the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
"I was kind of surprised, to be honest," Webb said. "Mark's on the short list for the World Cup, and I'm not sure, even now, how that will play out because I do know that he's hoping to continue doing some refereeing out there in Saudi Arabia, and for now, he's continuing the English Premier League. He had a game at the weekend.
"So I am kind of surprised he would go before the World Cup, knowing that it could, I guess, jeopardize his World Cup place but also understanding that he had an amazing year last year, the Champions League final in Milan, also went to Paris and refereed the Euro final. Wonderful, wonderful career.
"He probably got similar feelings that I've got -- he's been around a long time. Mark and I reached the Premier League more or less at the same time together. He's had a wonderful career. Like me, he's had ups and downs, but ultimately, he's a guy who can look back on an amazing career with some wonderful achievements. Very talented referee, and the Premier League will miss him when he moves on.
"I guess he felt that he wanted a new challenge, that he wanted to move on to something new in the way that I did and go out at the very top. And I wish him well in Saudi Arabia."
Webb left Saudi Arabia for the United States to become the manager of video assistant referee operations for the Professional Referee Organization, which oversees officiating in MLS.
MLS' video replay system is currently being tested, and Webb, speaking for the first time in his new role, said the league is looking to institute full video replays after the All-Star Game in August.
He said the new system will be used only when required -- on penalties, red cards, goals and mistaken identities -- and will not interfere with "subjective" calls made by the referee on the pitch.
"We want the referee to be the person who makes the calls, who decides whether something's worthy of a yellow card or a red card," he said. "We don't want the video assistant referee having too much influence before the decision is made.
"The entire mantra is minimum interference for maximum benefit. The game ebbs and flows and has tempo. Referees make hundreds of decisions every game, and many of those calls are pretty subjective."