LISA BEN: Court told women referees of ‘fearful consequences’ of ‘raising concerns’ with PGMOL

An elite women’s referee said there was a “fear” of taking grievances to Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) because of the “consequences” it could have on her career.

Lisa Benn told a London employment tribunal on Monday that Steve Child, a PGMOL coach and former Premier League assistant referee, had “pushed her too hard”.

PGMOL, the organization responsible for managing and training professional football referees and match officials in England, investigated the complaint but found that Child’s conduct did not rise to the level of disciplinary action.

But once Ben filed a complaint, she said the organization did not recommend her as highly as it had in the past, costing her a place on FIFA’s international referee list.

Speaking in court on Tuesday, the 34-year-old also claimed she and her colleagues did not report the problems because they were worried about losing their contracts.

“There is a fear in the women’s group to raise grievances, raise concerns, because of fear of repercussions,” Ben said.

“The irony of me sitting here is that I am out of a job – in terms of employment with PGMOL – because I raised this complaint.”

Penn claimed that PGMOL’s head of referees, Howard Webb, and his wife, Baby Stinehouse-Webb, who was then women’s chair of referees, said she would not be penalized for coming forward.

Months later, Ben moved from fifth to sixth place in PGMOL’s nominations for FIFA’s list of international referees.

Only the top five officials made the cut for the following season and Penn said she “was in sixth place because I was dealing with the burden of this complaint.”

Her coach, John Farris, told the court that it was “completely unusual” for a referee to “join FIFA and be removed so quickly.”

Penn claimed Steinhaus-Webb also ignored her in Women’s Super League refereeing appointments.

The court heard that she needed to officiate five matches to be eligible to join the FIFA roster, and that number would also put her on the waiting list for a small bonus.

However, Penn claimed she only received her fifth WSL Championship match because Varys – who said it was “pretty obvious Lisa wasn’t included” – interfered.

The court panel was told that Penn had been offered the right to formally appeal the outcome of the investigation into Child, but had refused to accept it.

Penn told the committee she “naively believed” she had appealed the ruling by telling staff she was unhappy with the process and outcome.

The committee also learned that she had not responded to several emails from Steinhaus-Webb asking what support could be provided.

“Every time I heard [Child’s] “The name was a challenge for me because it brought me back to that event,” Ben added.

She called Farris to tell him about the incident on the same day it happened, the committee was told.

“She was very distraught, she couldn’t speak properly, she was crying and she was talking about what had happened to her,” Farris said.

The court continues.