BIBIANA STEINHAUS-WEBB believes helping elite women’s football referees handle growing scrutiny is vital with officials under the spotlight.
And the WSL refs chief thinks the league has the potential to one day lead the way on global officiating standards.
Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb says helping referees manage the increased scrutiny of their performance is crucialCredit: Reuters
Steinhaus-Webb, who made history as the first woman to referee in Germany’s Bundesliga, was speaking nine months on from her appointment as PGMOL’s first women’s select group director.
The Germany-born former referee, who is married to ex-Prem ref Howard Webb, oversees match officials in the WSL and Women’s Championship.
Referees in the women’s top tier are in the spotlight with fixtures reaching bigger audiences with games aired on Sky Sports and the BBC.
On occasions, some decisions have led to criticism of officiating along with calls for Premier League standard refereeing.
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In November Neilsen’s sports research revealed the WSL could become the fourth most viewed domestic league on TV in the UK.
And with that attention comes greater social media reaction to decisions.
This includes moments such as a ball deflecting off the referee in the lead-up to a goal for Manchester City during their 1-1 draw with Arsenal in January.
That scenario is one of a few that led some commentators and club managers to call for improved refereeing.
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And Steinhaus-Webb highlights this as an example of why helping officials whose decisions are heavily scrutinised is so important.
The PGMOL women’s select group director said: “The psychological support around them is crucial at the moment, especially at the moment because the referees are not used to it.
“We had a situation at Manchester City vs Arsenal when the referee was hit by the ball, and a few seconds after City scored.
“Abi Byrne was the referee and we spoke about this incident for days after.
“Abi is an international referee with a really strong mentality and a huge amount of experience.
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“A few days after this game she said to me, ‘Bibi, you know what? I know that the exposure of the women’s game is so huge.
“But this is the first time I can feel it. I can feel being recognised. Like being at the store the next day, and (people saying) ‘oh, I saw you on TV yesterday.’
“She hasn’t done anything wrong, and this is the crazy bit.
“You can discuss this situation for hours and hours — what is the best solution here? What do we expect the next time?
“She was hit by the ball but then it just developed into an attacking situation.
Referees’ decisions in the WSL have come in for greater attention with games getting more TV coverageCredit: Reuters
“From a technical point of view, she did everything correct — she let play continue.
“Going through this, the scrutiny, that was the first time she really realised how much exposure the game actually has.
“And we are talking about a situation where we might have a totally different outcome because of a referee.
“What we do is take care of our people. They are human beings, and we have to make sure they are ready to take approximately 300 decisions in every game.”
Rebecca Welch is one of four English officials selected for duty at the Euros this summerCredit: Getty
“We have regular meetings – not only in the different parts of the country where the officials come from- but we also we have our PGMOL conference (in June).
“That’s when all the officials from the Premier League, the EFL and 40 of my girls from the Women’s Super League and Women’s Championship come together.
“These are the opportunities for all of the officials to get to know each other better and to speak about the challenges they are facing.”
The potential use of VAR and goal-line technology in the women’s top tier has been a topical issue this season.
In February EFL and WSL officials held discussions with PGMOL reps over the adoption of a low cost, light version of a video assistant referee.
In England we are not only watching WSL examples. You have to a look around what happens in the rest of the world when it comes to refereeing
Bibiana Steinhaus-Webb
However, a timescale for when a system could be introduced is yet to be confirmed.
Steinhaus-Webb added: “We can discuss VAR lite, we can discuss VAR, and first of all it’s a question for the competition: Where do you want to put your investment in?
“How do you prioritise? Do you want to grow the game and have more spectators first before you go [for] technology?
“If one of the answers is ‘yes, we want more technology in the game, to support the referees’, then (there are) a lot of questions around how many cameras, which venues, how can we do it, what do we need?
“We are in close contact with the competition department with the league, to discover all of the possible opportunities for the future. It’s (a case of) wait and see really.”.
Steinhaus-Webb believes more training for match officials in the WSL could one day see the league lead the way on refereeing in women’s football.
And she believes sharing ideas on best practices with counterparts in other countries is important.
The former Bundesliga ref added: “Progressing in our own country is important and efficient and should be our focus.
“But that being said, you have to a look around what happens in the rest of the world when it comes to refereeing.
“In England, we are not only watching WSL examples we are also watching international examples, what happens all around the world.
Steinhaus-Webb believes the WSL may one day set standards for match officiating internationallyCredit: Getty
“We’ve been invited by the refereeing department in Germany to look at their new academy and refereeing strategy.
“We discussed different things that work well
“With the WSL we probably have one of the strongest leagues in the world, if not the strongest competition.
“Give us a little bit more time and we will be leading the way on international officiating standards.”
