Enlarge image
The referee shows national player Lena Obersdorf the yellow card
Photo: Matthias Balk/dpa
The soccer referees in the women's Bundesliga are once again being criticized. A point has been reached at which the situation "is no longer acceptable and at which we must and want to consciously publicly point out qualitative grievances and structural deficits at the DFB," says Osman Cankaya, sports director of the 1. FC Nürnberg footballers, quoted in a press release. "We're talking about a cross-club, league-wide problem here."
All clubs are affected, regardless of the relegation or championship battle, according to the Bundesliga promoted club. “We find both the quality and the quantity of errors alarming, which in our opinion not only affects the competition but also the attractiveness of the Bundesliga,” the statement says.
Not for the first time this season there have been complaints about the performance of female referees. According to those responsible at FC Bayern and VfL Wolfsburg, the framework conditions for female referees need to be professionalized. “This would also allow the quality of services to be increased,” said Biance Rech, head of women’s football at FC Bayern, in an interview with “Kicker” at the beginning of the year.
Christine Baitinger, the sporting director of referees at the German Football Association (DFB), recently also pointed out the additional burden on female referees in light of the criticism. Many would lead games “in parallel to what is often a 40-hour week,” she said in a “Sportschau” interview.
In the future, the referees should be given more financial freedom “so that they can deal more intensively with the games and take a step back in their careers. We have to continue to take developments in women's football into account."
Open the women's Bundesliga to male referees?
A short-term solution that was brought up was to allow male referees in the women's Bundesliga. Referees from the men's professional leagues are currently not allowed to referee in the women's upper house because there are separate squads at the DFB.
“If we are currently unable to bring sufficient quality and quantity of female referees onto the pitch – why are we not in a position to open the gates to male referees in the women’s Bundesliga?” said Bianca Rech in one Interview with the “Kicker” at the beginning of the year. The head of women's football at FC Bayern had expressed the wish "that the DFB would give this issue more priority." She received approval from Ralf Kellermann, sports director at VfL Wolfsburg and interim national coach Horst Hrubesch.
Baitinger recently described dismantling the current system as a “more complex issue” and said: “The prerequisite must be that male referees are part of the women's Bundesliga. Then we are basically open to it. So referees should be part of the women’s Bundesliga squad.”
mlb/dpa