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Female ref breaks barrier

19 June 2007 | 11:38 - Reuters

Germany's football federation (DFB) has appointed a 28-year-old police officer as the first woman to referee men's professional matches.

 

Bibiana Steinhaus from Hanover will referee second division matches after several years' experience in regional games.

"My aim for the coming years is to direct games well, to direct them according to the rules and hopefully to be able to influence the game positively that way," Steinhaus said.

She said she could draw on her experiences in the police force, which had recently taken her to the Group of Eight summit in Heiligendamm, to help her on the pitch.

"I will enforce rules and remain neutral," said Steinhaus, who was a keen player until she turned to refereeing in 1995, following in the footsteps of her father.

Volker Roth, head of the DFB's referees' committee, said there had been no big issue about employing a woman.

"There is absolutely no reason why the German soccer federation's referee committee should not employ a woman in the professional field," he said.

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