The fight of the referees to dignify their effort and their passion: from charging 9.5 euros per game to professionalization

“How much is the dignity of a female athlete worth?” asked Marta Frías, a referee for 21 years, when last week she announced with her colleagues that the refereeing group would not move until their working conditions were improved.

The Women's League has experienced this season the jump to professionalism, but the collegiate ones were left aside, to whom they tried to impose the same conditions as when the competition was not professional.

After a lot of tension, meetings at the headquarters of the Higher Sports Council, and cross accusations between the F League and the Spanish Football Federation, an agreement was reached this week so that the collegiate members have a contract with which they quote from this year to Social Security and a salary that allows them to lead a decent life.

"I still not believe it.

The arbitration figure, so misunderstood at times in Spain, has proven essential for the growth of the competition, despite the fact that not everyone understood its claims.

“Sometimes we are seen as weirdos, but we are normal people,” Frías claims.

Marta Huerta, an international collegiate with 17 years of experience, agrees with her colleague that there are still sectors of society that must change their perception of arbitration.

“There have been many people who have supported us, but also others who accused us of being puppets, greedy or things of that nature.

Socially, we still have to work a lot, because we are athletes and many people do not consider us as such”, laments Huerta.

Marta Huerta during a match of the last European Championship. Visionhaus (Visionhaus/Getty Images)

The path of a girl who wants to dedicate herself to arbitration follows the same steps as the one who wants to be a soccer player: effort, dedication and sacrifice.

Hard training and juggling to combine sports life with other obligations.

Impossible to achieve without a genuine passion.

Most start with the bug at school, usually playing in the yard with the boys.

"Finding a women's soccer team before was very difficult, there weren't the facilities now," recalls Huerta, who decided to try arbitration at age 15 after a friend's recommendation.

“Those first years were very beautiful.

Now I see my nephew play in the fields where I started to whistle and I get excited to see where we started and how far we have come”.

Frías began refereeing older, at the age of 21, but the route was the same.

“A colleague at work was a referee and told me that I should try, that if I liked football so much this was a good way.

Of course, the first three weeks were very hard, more so for a female referee.

I wanted to leave the games.

But little by little I got the hang of it and got hooked.

Now it is the passion of my life, without a doubt, and once I retire I want to continue linked to this world, ”says the 42-year-old referee, who has three seasons left to hang up the whistle.

Until this year, the referees had to combine the games with other jobs that allowed them to make ends meet.

Huerta was a physical education teacher at a school and Frías works for a lighting company.

As of this season, they will receive a salary of 35,000 euros a year as they are main collegiate members.

More information

The referees improve their working conditions after reaching an agreement with the Women's Professional Soccer League

But in the case of the assistants, whose salary has stood at 18,000 euros per year, they must continue to combine arbitration with other professions.

Rocío Puente has been practicing for more than ten years while she teaches, like Huerta, physical education at an institute.

Her fight now happens because her administrations recognize her as a high-level athlete and facilitate the compatibility of both jobs.

"In 2018 I was designated for the World Cup, but in the end it was very problematic because of all the permits I had to ask for to be allowed to go without having problems at work," she says.

The CSD works so that the arbitration group is considered throughout Spain as high-level athletes, but for now that competition belongs to the Autonomous Communities.

Like her teammates, Puente began with the arbitration bug, first practicing sports from a very young age.

She was always clear about what she wanted her role to be on the field.

“My father trained a team and he passed on his passion for football to me.

When she watched the games with him she told him that I wanted to be a referee, that I didn't want to play, I wanted to whistle.

He told me: 'we'll see when you're older'.

When I was 14 years old I signed up for a colleague who opened the door for me and since then I have enjoyed every day”.

Her passion for sport is especially reflected in her effort during her career, in which she has whistled for Copa de la Reina matches or friendly matches for only 9.5 euros, enduring the insults of the harrow.

“If it was for money I would leave it.

I earn twice as much from my other job and it would also save me from all the stress of organizing the trips and all that.

But this is my passion."

They all celebrate that a step forward has finally been taken in recognizing their effort during all this time in which they have been fundamental, calling matches when the interest in women's football was very low.

There are still steps to be taken, but the path has been mapped out.

“Now we can dedicate ourselves exclusively to preparing our matches, not having to run from work to train.

This will help raise the level of refereeing and the competition will grow”, remarks Huerta.

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