Female referee proves football sexism deserves a red card

Football may have been thrown into a sexism row in recent weeks, but one Burntwood official has shown that she’s up to the job of taking charge of matches.

Zoe Jones has passed her induction course to officiate games in the Leisure Leagues competition with flying colours. And now she admits she can’t wait to take her place in the middle – and even offered to show shamed TV duo Andy Gray and Richard Keys that they were wrong to ridicule female officials. She said:

“I was absolutely thrilled when I was told I had achieved the highest mark of any woman. I know we won’t have to worry about the offside rule in five and six-a-side, but I could definitely explain it – as long as I have enough nail polish bottles to represent the players!”

Leisure Leagues operates leagues at Burntwood Leisure Centre and Chasetown Specialist Sports College. And the company’s refereeing chief Olly Hitchcox believes Zoe is a shining example of the role women can play in the modern game. He said:

“We have plenty of female officials and all our leagues our open to all players of all genders and that’s the way it should be. The good thing for us is that since women officials have been in the news we have fielded so many calls from people wanting to get involved in the game.”

For more information on playing or refereeing in the league call 0845 230 2340 or visit www.leisureleagues.net.

Nominations close on 26th August, get yours in now!

Ross

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