The objective of this study was to explore the lived experience of psychological burnout among football referees in the Iranian Premier League. This study was conducted using an interpretive phenomenological approach, grounded in the tradition of Van Manen (1990, 2014). Participants consisted of active referees and assistant referees from the 2024–2025 season. Utilizing purposive sampling, in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 19 participants until data saturation was reached. The analysis process, based on Van Manen’s (1990, 2014) stages—including phenomenological reflection, meaning reduction, extracting structures of experience, and reflective writing—was managed using MaxQDA 2024 software. Results indicated that the experience of burnout among referees is shaped within the context of three categories of antecedent conditions: structural and managerial inefficiency (e.g., financial insecurity and lack of organizational support), hostile environmental and social pressures (including media attacks and symbolic violence), and the inherently stressful nature of the officiating profession. The essential components of the experience were crystallized into three dimensions: “deep emotional exhaustion,” “professional depersonalization,” and “reduced perceived self-efficacy.” The consequences of this experience manifested at three levels: professional (loss of focus and doubt about continuing the career), psychobiological (anxiety, sleep disorders, and physical tension), and socio-familial (spillover of stress into close relationships). The phenomenological essence of the experience revealed that for referees, burnout is a gradual, sedimented process formed at the intersection of three primary forces: structural pressure, social violence, and the inherently high-stress nature of officiating.