Woman Officials In Football

[JD]

Should the game stay a male dominated sport, or should women become involved?

The following is from sky sports.

Luton boss Mike Newell has launched a scathing attack on assistant referee Amy Rayner and claimed female officials should be banned from professional football.

http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hli ... e+official

I think if the FA has given her a job on her qualifications and skill to do it properly, let her do it. But I can’t think of another sport that allows women to officiate over the men.

I don’t care either way, if a woman is up to the job, she should be given every equal opportunity to do it, I suppose if your on the end of a loss, as Newell was, you’re going to claim every mistake made by her as reason for the bigoted rhetoric he ensued. But I think many male counterparts this season have made huge mistakes, at all levels of the game. What’s your view?

[Bamboo Grove]

Why not? We've seen competent women doing top jobs for many countries already such as: Maggie, Maggie Mae, our present president Mrs Halonen and maybe Hilary soon. Don't necessary like them all, but they've done a good job doing what they have.

[Guess]

As BG says, women can achieve much in many vocations and many of the greatest figures in British History have been women. Bodecia, Elizabeth I, Victoria and more recently Elizabeth II and Magaret Thatcher. Also recently women have been playing a much larger role in US politics.

However in sport they have had some bad publicity. I remeber a boxing match that had a female judge and she gave about two points in favour of the boxer that the other two had ruled as the winner. The very large differental changed the result. It was a big fight with a serious outcome.

Surely though in most countries inn the West it would be illegal to deny somone a position because of their sex.

[Big Boy]

I've thought for some time about this before typing a response. My initial gut response is a big NO.

However, now that common sense has taken over, I see no reason why not, providing they gain the correct qualifications. As Guess said, "It would be illegal to deny someone a position because of their sex."

I would not like to see a female elevated to such a position just because it was politically correct, and the FA had to maintain their female quota.

[PeteC]

Don't the women have a World Cup or an Olympic competion? I forget if the refs were men or women? Women should start refing there, not on the men's side until they are proven. Pete

[DawnHRD]

I'm not a football fan, but I'd vote "no". This isn't because I don't believe women are capable - far from it, but I feel that certain jobs are more widely socially acceptable for certain genders. Already, there have been 3 positive answers, and 2 of them have expressed concerns as far as political correctness and how the woman official's viewpoint could be perceived.

Political correctness and such concepts as affirmative action can go too far - we've all seen ads for jobs in the UK that favour minorities & women. This can cause resentment for those being discriminated against - and if someone is given a better chance, for whatever reason, it's still discrimination. Even if the woman officiating were the best qualified for the job, there would be people questioning her fitness for the job & how she got it - particularly if her decisions weren't popular.

[Jaime]

Ha ha! After all that Mike Newell backs down and says 'sorry':

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/6142974.stm

What a pillock.

[Jim]

English (British) football is very much dominated by a white male mentatility. I used to know some of the English referees reasonably well and one of the best was edged out of the game because he was Asian (he sued and lost). It is an odd thing how few ex-players become officials in a game where your playing status means so much - ask how many managers, coaches, scouts are not ex-players. It's not just female officials who are or will be discriminated against, it's anyone not part of the accepted scene. So if officials are there on merit, let them officiate.

We had Rob Styles yesterday, who was good. But he was still subject to "Worse than Graham Poll, you're worse that Graham Poll, you know you are you're sure you are, you're worse than Graham Poll."