People Aren’t Angry About UEFA’s Female Referee Because She’s ‘Unqualified’, They’re Just Sexist

Tonight, football history will be made when Stephanie Frappart, a football referee from France, referees the annual UEFA Super Cup game. As the first woman to officiate a major men’s European match, her appointment for the Liverpool versus Chelsea game has attracted a lot of attention. Not least, because her entire on-field referee team, which includes Manuela Nicolosi and Michelle O’Neill, are women.

Unsurprisingly, she has faced an abundance of sexism. Tweets telling her to get back in the kitchen, that her appointment is a feminist publicity stunt and that she can’t be physically fit enough to keep up with the men’s game. But the most infuriating criticism of all? The idea that she’s not qualified.

Frappart is qualified. Of course. She is an official Ligue 1 referee, the highest tier of men’s professional football in France, has been on the FIFA International Referees List for a decade and officiated two Women’s World Cups. In fact, she is so highly qualified that she was chosen to referee the WWC Final in France last month.

While examinations are different for referees depending on whether they’re officiating a men or women’s game (which is an entire different debate), Frappart has passed all of UEFA’s physical examinations with flying colours.

And yet, commentary still revolves around whether she’s got enough experience or not. It’s not just social media trolls, entire articles have been published focusing on the debate around her abilities. In fact, UEFA have even been forced to defend her appointment, with their head of refereeing Robert Rossetti having to confirm that yes, ‘she understands football’.

‘Physically she ran like a male referee,’ he said referring to her WWC officiating, ‘Mentally she is very strong; she’s ready for this match. Then, you know, I think it’s not a matter of gender. Everybody can make mistakes. I’m confident she’ll do well.’

What is hilariously eye-rolly about this entire debate though is that those protesting her experience are pretending it’s not about gender at all. Every comment fits the same mould: ‘I don’t care that she’s a woman, I just think [insert unfounded comment on her qualifications]’. In fact, even in the Daily Mail article about Rossetti’s defence of her, it states ‘it’s not a debate about gender.’

But tell me this, men whom suddenly have followed this entire woman’s career, when in history has there ever been so much debate about a referee appointment? Yes, referee decisions are contested and we often see arguments about how terrible an official was during a game. But that’s the difference, all of the problems come after the match. When a bad call is made, when a referee reveals themselves to be somewhat biased in their judging, when your team loses and all you can do is blame the referee. Never do football fans question whether a referee is good enough with this much vitriol before they’ve even proved themselves.

And so of course this is a debate about gender. If Stephanie were a man, no one would even care who was refereeing this game. It might be a two-minute conversation in the pub as the game starts, or a controversial argument when a penalty is called, but would we ever be reading their name all over the press? No, because men’s professional capabilities, across most industries, aren’t intrinsically questioned.

In fact, last year’s Super Cup Referee, Syzmon Marciniak, had less experience than Frappart. A FIFA listed referee for only seven years, he had officiated three top tier games in the 2016 European Championships and never even came close to a World Cup final. By comparison Frappart has more often been appointed for higher stakes games and refereed top tier players more and for longer. But did any publications contest his appointment? Have you ever even heard his name in football chatter?

Ultimately, this entire ‘debate’ is lined with sexism and to suggest otherwise is ludicrous. If you’re contesting a referee’s qualifications for the first time in your life purely because she’s a woman – you’re sexist.

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