Here’s how the RFEF discriminates against the pockets of Spain’s top female referees | Relief

He Technical Committee of Judges (CTA) Not only does it prevent female referees from speaking or participating in the meetings they organize weekly to review men’s games, as their colleagues usually do, but it also Their reward system is different from their own. But let’s take it step by step.

In Spain, only professional football referees have a contract, regardless of gender.. That is, from the First and Second Division, as well as League F. From the 1st RFEF and below, referees and assistants do not have a contractual agreement for the season, so they charge a fee and declare for each match they participate in. As a self-employed worker. When a field referee acts as the fourth referee in the professional categories, the remuneration system for him is the same, per game.

However, The form of remuneration for judges varies.. In our country, In men’s football this season, only three female referees have had contracts. professional. This is a case Guadalupe Porras, Eliana Fernandez – both First Division assistants – and Judith Romano -who worked as an assistant in the second division and was promoted to the top category the following season-. They will also be added in the 2024/25 season. Marta Huerta de Aza, Chief Judge of the Second Division and Silvia Fernandez Perezas an assistant of the same category.

Except for them, who will have better economic conditions for participation in men’s professional football and who will only participate in professional competition matches (they also participate in some F League and Queen’s Cup tournaments), The remaining referees are contracted to referee the F-League, but they also referee men’s football matches. Assistants, for example, in the 1st RFEF, and field referees who preside over matches in this category, or four referees in the First or Second Division. But do they get paid the same as their colleagues? The answer is a resounding no. In your case, the CTA includes an exclusivity bonus (optional) and a second “plus” for the “pack” of men’s football matches they participate ineither as a fourth official in the First or Second Division, or as field referees/assistants in non-professional football, i.e. from the 1st RFEF onwards.

While some sources consulted by Relevo suggest that there are still more residual cases in which referees receive an economic benefit (albeit not a professional one) for not officiating the maximum number of men’s football matches stipulated by their contract, and for which they are rewarded with this bonus, the truth is that Some of them exceed the set number of matches and are therefore at a monetary disadvantage compared to their colleagues who are paid per match played.

As this media outlet was able to confirm, There are at least three referees who significantly exceeded the number of men’s matches stipulated by their contracts last season and for which they received no financial compensation.. This is a case of the above mentioned Marta Huerta de Aza (three matches as fourth official in the First Division, four in the Second Division and eleven matches as a referee in the First RFEF, in addition to League F and the Queen’s Cup) and Silvia Fernandez Perez(14 matches as an assistant in the 1st RFEF in addition to the women’s matches), as well as Rita Cabanero (also helped in 14 matches of the 1st RFEF, in addition to her work in women’s football).

When Huerta de Aza, who recently became the first female referee in history in the second division.his number of matches in the 1st RFEF and as fourth official in the First and Second (whose remuneration to his teammates is 1,208 and 763 euros per game respectively) far exceeds the amount received for his contract. The participation of his teammates in the 1st RFEF also exceeds the bonus established for them. But, What happens to the money the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) receives for its participation? That the Spanish arbitration board refers him to “STA Foundation”.

For example, in the case of teammates like Pablo Monterrubio, who last season was the fourth official five times in the First Division and eleven times in the Second Division, in addition to 12 matches in the First RFEF, the referees were paid according to the corresponding schedules by category, the amounts corresponding to each of the parties. The same is the case with José Antonio Sánchez Villalobos, who was the fourth official eight times in the First Division, seven times in the Second Division, and also refereed 14 matches in the First RFEF. For each of them, he charged his own fee depending on the category. In contrast, the CTA pays its colleagues this bonus and that’s it.

This CTA fund thus accumulates the amounts that female referees would have received for their work if they were not discriminated against compared to their colleagues. As for the management of these funds, former member of the college Xavier Estrada Fernández denounced Luis Rubiales – former president of the RFEF – and Andreu Camps – who was secretary general – before the Supreme Sports Council (CSD) in 2023 for the misuse of private funds. Carlos Velasco Carballo — former CTA President and current member of the UEFA Refereeing Development Commission — and lWis Medina Cantalejo is the President of the CTA.

Just a few weeks ago, on May 17, he filed a complaint with the courts of general jurisdiction, in particular the Central Administrative Court of Madrid, regarding non-payment of professional arbitrationsigned in August 2018. According to Estrada Fernandez, The total amount of money not yet allocated for arbitration awards will amount to EUR 1,921,289.

Although judges do not receive a salary for their work like their colleagues, they do receive. They were placed at the start of the 2021/22 season against League F in order to achieve an increase in their remuneration.After stopping the first day of competition, they reached an agreement with the employers’ association, according to which they will receive 25,000 euros per season for women’s league matches only. What about his work in men’s competitions? Apart from the sporting merits, which no one questions, there are those who point out that the CTA is compensating for the shortage of female referees, who officiate the majority of men’s football matches, by promoting them.