An elite women’s referee says there was a “fear” of raising grievances with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) because of the “consequences” it would have on careers.
Lisa Benn had told an employment tribunal in London on Monday that Steve Child, a PGMOL coach and former Premier League assistant referee, had “forcefully pushed her”.
PGMOL, the organisation responsible for managing and training professional football referees and match officials in England, investigated the complaint but found Child’s behaviour did not meet the threshold for disciplinary action.
But once Benn raised a complaint, she said the organisation did not recommend her as highly as it had done in the past, costing her a place on Fifa’s international referee list.
Speaking at the tribunal on Tuesday, the 34-year-old also alleged she and fellow colleagues did not flag issues because they were worried about losing their contracts.
“There is a fear in the women’s group to raise grievances, to raise concerns, because of the fear of consequences,” said Benn.
“The irony of me being sat here is I’m unemployed – in terms of employment by PGMOL – because I raised that grievance.”
Benn alleged PGMOL chief refereeing officer Howard Webb, and his wife Bibi Steinhaus-Webb, then its head of women’s referees, said she would not be punished for coming forward.
Months later Benn went from fifth to sixth in PGMOL’s nominations for Fifa’s international referee list.
Only the top five officials made the cut for the next season and Benn said she “was sixth because I was dealing with the baggage of this complaint”.
Her coach John Farries told the tribunal it was “highly unusual” for a referee to “get on to Fifa and be removed so quickly”.
Benn alleged she was overlooked too by Steinhaus-Webb for Women’s Super League refereeing appointments.
She needed to officiate five matches to be eligible for the Fifa list and that number would also put her in line for a small bonus, the tribunal heard.
However Benn alleged she only received her fifth WSL game because Farries – who said it was “pretty apparent that Lisa wasn’t being included” – stepped in.
The tribunal panel was told Benn was offered the right to formally appeal the result of the investigation into Child, but declined to take it.
Benn told the panel she “naively thought” that she had appealed by telling staff she was unhappy with the process and outcome.
The panel also heard she did not respond to several emails from Steinhaus-Webb asking about what support could be put in place.
“Every time I heard [Child’s] name was a challenging situation for me because it brought me back to that event,” added Benn.
She called Farries to tell him about the incident on the same day it occurred, the panel was told.
Farries said: “She was very distraught, she couldn’t talk properly, she was crying and she was sputtering out what had happened to her.”
Related topics
- Football
- Women’s Football
