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A refereeing coach has denied “manhandling” Women’s Super League referee Lisa Benn after she told an employment tribunal he “pushed her too hard” during the match.
Penn, 34, claims she was pushed and threatened by Steve Child during a tournament organized by Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) to train staff for video assistant referees (VAR) in March 2023.
English football’s refereeing body investigated the complaint but found that the child’s behavior did not rise to the level of disciplinary action.
In a court witness statement relayed to the committee on Wednesday, Child said “I didn’t hold her 100%, she was a ‘guiding arm if anything’” but “I don’t remember making any physical contact with her”.
The former Premier League assistant referee added: “I put my arm lightly on her back in the sense of ‘let’s go’.”
Child refuted Penn’s accusations that his treatment of her was “because she is a woman.”
Kick-off had been postponed due to a previous injury and the South London Employment Tribunal heard that Child was trying to speed up the start of play.
He denied grabbing Ben for a second time and said “your card has been flagged” after a mass brawl broke out at the end of a tense Al-Shabab match.
Carla Fisher, for Ben, said: “A six-foot-tall man became nervous and the plaintiff asked him to calm down and physically moved a five-foot-tall woman onto the playing field.”
She added: “There is absolutely no way this connection could have been other than seizure and cruel treatment, right?”
The child replied: “That is not true.”
He also denied intimidating Ben at the hotel reception for the training camp they both attended on August 19, 2023, saying: “I think this may have been confusion on Lisa’s part.”
Penn claims she unfairly lost her position as a FIFA international referee because she complained about his behavior to the PGMOL.
She claimed that the organization’s president of referees, Howard Webb, and his wife, Bebe Stinehouse Webb – who was then women’s president of referees – told her she would not be penalized for coming forward.
“There is a fear in the women’s group to raise grievances and raise concerns because of fear of repercussions,” Penn said at Tuesday’s hearing.
The court continues.
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