One of the major talking points this week has been the Castle Premiership debut of female referee Deidre Mitchell in the match between Santos and Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday.
While her appointment for the game is an extremely rare event worldwide, I’m left wondering: What is all the fuss about?
I was present at her debut match in professional football in October 2005, between FC Fortune and City Pillars in the national First Division, the Mvela Golden League.
She looked composed and in control then, having the guts to award two deserved penalties (one for each side). She has since worked her way up the South African Football Association panel of match officials and is now listed on CAF’s elite panel of female referees.
So, given her fine pedigree, why is it such an issue for some officials within football and members of the public that she be appointed to control a match in the male leagues? Is the role of the referee not to enforce the laws the game to ensure a fair result? Why should a female be less adept at this than a male?
If we are saying that female match officials may give in to testosterone-driven males hurling abuse at them, or cede to an angry crowd looking to sway a decision one way or the other, then why do we tolerate policewomen in this country — a far more pressurised environment?
No, my only slight concern would be with mobility around the field and being able to keep up with the play, but as far as decision-making, enforcing the rules and handling pressure go, there is an argument that the rational female mind is better equipped to handle this than some males.
Mitchell’s handling of the Santos-Chiefs match was superb. She stamped her authority on the game early by handing out five yellow cards in the first half and got all the big decisions in the game 100% correct.
But that will not stop her detractors from pouncing on any future mistake (which will come; nobody is perfect) and holding it up as an example of why we should not have female referees in our top flight — this despite controversy that dogs the Castle Premiership on an almost weekly basis as officials roll from one blunder to the next.
Perhaps it is something ingrained in our male psyche that we feel threatened by the presence of a female in what we arrogantly assume is our domain.
But it is not just this country that suffers from this chauvinistic outlook. England has been grappling with similar issues. Just this past weekend, Jacqui Oatley became the first female to commentate on the BBC’s almost holy Match of the Day TV show when she offered insight into the Fulham vs Blackburn game.
This caused a smattering of applause, but mostly outrage that the male-dominated sanctity of the press box had been violated in such a way, leading to the Daily Mail‘s Steve Curry to say: “I am from the old school when football press boxes and commentary positions were men-only locations and the thought of a female commenting on football was abhorrent.”
But Curry had better get used to it, because the more attention the likes of the English Premiership and Castle Premiership attract from paying female customers at grounds, the more the push to involve women in the game at all levels (except playing staff) will grow.
And I have no problem with that at all.
Nick Said is editor: special projects for Kick Off magazine