Sexism, abuse and threatening behaviour: experiences of women football referees in amateur and semi-professional men’s football in the UK

Recent events in football, such as the all-female officiating team of Stéphanie Frappart, Neuza Back and Karen Díaz at the 2022 men’s World Cup, and the coverage of England’s Lionesses in UEFA Women’s Euro, have raised the profile of women in football. Despite this, literature has demonstrated the difficulties faced by women who officiate football. Experiences include being subject to sexism and abuse, and belittling language from players, coaches and parents of young players. This research presents experiences from seven women who referee men’s football in the UK. Participants referee at varying levels, from grassroots to semi-professional football. Participants chose to be part of observation and interviews or complete a qualitative questionnaire with the potential for follow-up questions. A number of Foucault’s ideas were then used to analyse and explain data. Findings demonstrate experiences of sexist language and abuse, sometimes related to traditional gender roles or incompetence of women referees, and sometimes represented as extreme and threatening behaviour. Additionally, some women in this study expressed the pressure of representing all women football officials when they were completing the qualification and later when refereeing. Despite these obstacles and the frequent ‘othering’ of women referees within the football environment, their persistent involvement and occasional overt challenges to remarks or actions demonstrated their resistance to dominant discourses and the normalising judgements, showcasing the ability and determination of women officials. Overall, more support, including mental health support, needs to be available for women who referee football at all levels. Harsher punishments should be administered for those that harass or threaten women, and clear and effective structures should be in place to address women’s experiences of harassment, ensuring that women feel confident in making complaints and are assured by the resulting actions taken.