Lisa Benn officiated at the 2022 European Championship.
A referee in the Women’s Super League claims she was removed from her international post after alleging a referee coach “manhandled” her during a match.
Lisa Benn testified at a London employment tribunal on Monday that Steve Child, a coach with the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) and a former Premier League assistant referee, “forcefully pushed her.”
According to a witness statement, Benn alleges that after she filed a complaint, PGMOL’s recommendations for her were not as strong as in the past, costing her a spot on Fifa’s international referee list.
Benn, 34, stated that she was assured by Howard Webb, the organization’s chief refereeing officer, and his wife, Bibi Steinhaus-Webb, then head of women’s referees, that she would not be penalized for reporting the incident.
PGMOL investigated the complaint but concluded that Child’s actions did not warrant disciplinary action.
The tribunal heard that the alleged incident occurred in March 2023 during a PGMOL-organized tournament to train staff on video assistant referees (VAR), a technology not used in the women’s game.
After a serious injury delayed the schedule, Benn alleges that Child urged her to quickly start a game, grabbing her arm and “forcefully pushing” her onto the field.
The tribunal was told that the game she officiated later became contentious, and Child instructed a fourth official to tell Benn to “kill the game.”
Benn responded by saying, “don’t tell me how to referee,” and also directed an expletive at Child.
“I am a trusted referee, I referee at the highest level – this was an under-19s game,” she told the panel.
“He felt superior, he felt like he could come on and tell me how to referee, he manhandled me on to the field of play – he would never have done that to a male referee,” she added.
Jesse Crozier, representing PGMOL, suggested “he would have put his arm behind you and ushered you on to the pitch at the same time,” but Benn refuted this explanation.
When asked if she had seen him act similarly with other referees, Benn replied: “I have to female referees, yes. I haven’t to male referees.”
She stated that Child grabbed her arm at the end of the game and told her, “your card has been marked.”
“He was so angry his eyes were bulging out of his head,” she added.
Crozier said, “If you had been dragged, grabbed and pushed at a training tournament with dozens and dozens of people, someone would have seen it,” to which Benn disagreed.
The tribunal continues.
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