 "Female referee in England alleges complaint against male coach who ‘pushed’ her led to loss of FIFA spot")
A female referee, Lisa Benn, in England has claimed that she lost her role as an international official after complaining about a male referee coach to the body that manages refereeing in English professional association football.
The shocking case came to light after Benn made a complaint to an employment tribunal in London. On Monday, during the hearing, Benn revealed that Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) stopped recommending “her as highly as it had done in the past” after she made a complaint against their referee coach Steve Child for “manhandling” her, and that PGMOL’s actions have cost her a place on FIFA’s international referee list.
Female referee in England makes gender discrimination claims
Benn also said the tribunal that PGMOL’s chief refereeing officer, Howard Webb, and his wife Bibi Steinhaus-Webb, who was the head of women’s referees at the time of the incident, had told her that she would not be punished if she filed a complaint. However, after its investigation, PGMOL found that Child’s actions were not enough to initiate a disciplinary action.
During the Monday hearing, Benn revealed the entire incident. The unfortunate episode took place at a PGMOL-organised tournament in March 2023, which was arranged to train staff on video assistant referees (VAR).
The training was delayed after an injury in a game. Benn alleged that it was at this time that coach Child grabbed her arm and “forcefully pushed” her onto the pitch, asking her to resume the game quickly.
The game also turned into a heated affair as Child asked a fourth official to instruct Benn to “kill the game,” the tribunal was told.
Benn did not like the instructions as she asked Child not to tell her “how to referee.”
“I am a trusted referee, I referee at the highest level - this was an under-19s game,” she told the tribunal.
“He felt superior, he felt like he could come on and tell me how to referee, he manhandled me onto the field of play - he would never have done that to a male referee,” she added.
Jesse Crozier, who was representing PGMOL, suggested that probably Child “would have put his arm behind you and ushered you on to the pitch at the same time,” but this theory was rejected by Benn.
When asked if Child had acted this aggressively with other referees as well, Benn said: “I have to female referees, yes. I haven’t to male referees.”
She ended by sharing that at the end of the game, Child told her, “your card has been marked.”
However, Crozier questioned Benn’s version of how things transpired on the said day. “If you had been dragged, grabbed and pushed at a training tournament with dozens and dozens of people, someone would have seen it,” he said.
The tribunal is yet to deliver the verdict on the controversy.
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