Howard Webb and his wife have been at the centre of a refereeing scandal this month, but they have both denied claims of demoting a female referee after she made a complaint about a colleague.
WSL referee Lisa Benn claims she lost her job as an international official “after being manhandled”.
The Webb’s refute harassment claims
Bibi Steinhaus-Webb, wife of PGMOL chief referee officer Howard Webb, was head of women’s referees when Benn was demoted.
During Benn’s tribunal this week, both of the Webb’s have made comment on the situation, defending the decision to remove Benn as an international referee.
It was put to Steinhaus-Webb during the tribunal that Benn was dropped to sixth in the FA nominations for Fifa games due to her complaints.
When asked if the decision was made due to Benn making “a harassment claim against Mr Child on the basis of her sex” – Steinhaus-Webb strongly refuted the accusations.
The former head of women’s referees for PGMOL said that the claims were ‘wholly inaccurate’ and gave reasons as to why Benn actually lost her job as a FIFA official.
Thank you Bibi 🤝
Bibi Steinhaus-Webb will be leaving her position as Select Group Women’s Professional Game Director to take up a role at FIFA.
Bibi has been pivotal in transforming the women’s professional officiating pathway and everyone at PGMOL would like to wish her all… pic.twitter.com/YSt5PDRyUW
— PGMO (@FA_PGMOL) October 7, 2024
“I investigated with different people if they can help clarify what the situation on the day was,” Steinhaus-Webb said, “and then we moved it on to HR. This is nothing to do with male or female. This is a [assistant] referee coach and a referee being at a tournament together and having an argument that included physical contact.”
PGMOL and Howard Webb defend decision
Howard Webb also spoke at the tribunal and he defended the decisions taken against Benn despite her claims.
“Unfortunately – highly regrettably – it wasn’t, but… she was correctly placed sixth based on the performance factors listed and the holistic view we’ve gone through. This is a competitive world in which we work and we need to rank officials against each other.”
PGMOL have continued to oppose Benn’s claims on the situation but the tribunal is still ongoing and is yet to reach its conclusion.
