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#Post#: 97495--------------------------------------------------
Lisa Benn
DIR By: John Treleven
Date: November 15, 2025, 7:45 am
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Telegraph
Howard Webb will fight allegations PGMOL ruined the career of a
leading female referee in court next week. Lisa Benn, the
Women’s Super League referee, claims she was sidelined by
Professional Game Match Officials Limited – the body responsible
for referees, then led by Webb and his wife, Bibi Steinhaus-Webb
– after making a complaint against a leading men’s coach.
Benn, 34, alleged she was “physically manhandled and threatened”
on a pitch by Steve Child, a PGMOL coach and former Premier
League assistant referee, at a men’s tournament arranged in 2023
to give VAR experience to WSL referees. A PGMOL investigation
that same year found that Child’s behaviour did not meet the
threshold for disciplinary action against him.
Benn says that despite assurances from Webb and Steinhaus-Webb –
who was then head of women’s referees at PGMOL – that she would
not be punished for making a complaint against Child, that
turned out not, in her view, to be the case. She would go on to
lose her place on the coveted Fifa list of referees and her
£20,000 annual PGMOL salary.
Benn has since filed an unfair dismissal complaint with the
tribunal listed to begin at an employment court in Croydon on
Monday and Webb is expected to give evidence on behalf of PGMOL
later in the week.
Steinhaus-Webb, a former World Cup final referee who took charge
of games in the men’s Bundesliga in her native Germany for three
years, married Webb in 2021. She now works for Fifa. Webb has
been chief refereeing officer at PGMOL since December 2022.
Benn’s case centres on the decision in December 2023 not to
nominate her for one of the five Fifa places available for
English referees, despite ranking fifth among top officials in
the WSL. In the two years previous, Benn had been nominated by
the Football Association on the basis of her PGMOL performance
and been duly accepted by Fifa.
In December 2023, the FA had submitted six names to Fifa, with
Benn sixth on the list, although Fifa had requested only five
nominations. Documents later revealed that Webb, also on the FA
referees’ committee, had been party to the decision to submit
Benn as a sixth name as early as August 2023.
That Fifa place was crucial – it meant Benn would be selected to
take charge of international games and Uefa competition matches.
It earned her a £20,000 annual salary from PGMOL to enable her
to take time off from her job with the Sussex County FA to
travel to matches and training camps. She lost that salary and
effectively became self-employed at the start of 2024, reliant
on her match fees alone.
Before then Benn regularly took charge of some of the biggest
WSL games and also refereed in the men’s game in the National
League South, the sixth tier. In the previous WSL season,
2021-22, Benn had been ranked first among the referees and also
been selected to take charge of the FA Women’s League Cup final
between Chelsea and Manchester City.
Having learnt she had lost her Fifa place in December 2023, Benn
was told by Steinhaus-Webb that there would be a “more holistic”
approach to selection for Fifa nominations in the future, that
was not reliant on ranking position. Benn received assurances
she could regain her Fifa nomination the following year.
In the WSL season 2023-24, Benn finished second on the WSL
ranking but was not nominated by the FA for Fifa for a second
successive year. That was despite one of the five Fifa-listed
referees, Rebecca Welch, retiring from on-field service and
leaving a place free.
Post-November 2023, and the subsequent fallout from the alleged
clash with Child, Benn refereed just four more WSL games that
season. She took charge of 11 games in the 2024-25 season, but
has not been appointed to any this term. Benn’s claim
encompasses compensation for direct discrimination, harassment,
victimisation, unfair dismissal, wrongful dismissal and unlawful
deduction of wages.
PGMOL says it denies all Benn’s claims in their entirety.
The case has stirred considerable interest among referees. It
also shines a spotlight on the Webbs – the most powerful couple
in refereeing. Howard, 54, and Bibi, 46, met while on Fifa duty
and had both previously been in the United States working for
Major League Soccer.
Both are former police officers in their respective countries,
with Bibi – short for Bibiana – having broken through from the
women’s game to spend three seasons taking charge of men’s
Bundesliga games. Both have refereed Fifa World Cup finals in
the international game – the ultimate appointment. Howard took
charge of the 2010 men’s final in Johannesburg, only the second
English referee to do so. Bibi did so the following year at the
women’s World Cup in Germany.
Bibi is now Fifa’s head of women’s refereeing, the most senior
administrative position in the game for women referees. Webb is
tipped as a contender to take the top job at Fifa when its
referees’ committee chairman, Pierluigi Collina, steps down.
The Benn case dates back to when Steinhaus-Webb was at PGMOL
between 2021 and 2024. Benn’s complaint against Child in 2023
was investigated that year by PGMOL director Adam Gale-Watts,
another former Premier League assistant referee. In his report
on the incident, included in court documents, Gale-Watts found
that while there had been physical contact between Child and
Benn, it was not considered “threatening or aggressive”.
Child was an experienced Premier League assistant who officiated
at more than 300 Premier League games before retiring in 2019.
He is now a full-time PGMOL assistant referee coach in the
women’s game.
In the documents seen by Telegraph Sport, Benn claimed that, in
March 2023, Child had made physical contact just before she was
about to referee a men’s match which had been delayed because of
a serious injury in the previous game. In court documents it is
alleged by Benn that Child “grabbed the Claimant’s [Benn’s] arm
and dragged her to the pitch”.
The pair had been at odds before and then during the game over
the style of refereeing required for the matches, played for the
benefit of the WSL referees to learn VAR protocol. Benn admitted
that she told Child to “chill out” and also to “f--- off”.
Towards the end of the game in question there was a red card
given by Benn and angry players demanded her attention. It was
then the referee said that Child approached her again. Benn
alleged he told her that “your card is marked”. Child denied any
aggressive or threatening behaviour.
In his investigation in June 2023, Gale-Watts found that, “on
the balance of probability” there was physical contact made
between the pair ahead of kick-off in the game in March, but it
fell short of the threshold of “threatening and aggressive”.
Gale-Watts recommended that Child not be disciplined under the
PGMOL rules. Gale-Watts advised that avoiding physical contact
between officials was “best practice”. Child denied any
wrongdoing.
There was a second confrontation between Child and Benn at a
training camp in August 2023. Court documents allege that Child
told Benn, who had just arrived, that she was late. In the
course of the argument Benn told Child to “f--- off”, and later
left the camp that day.
PGMOL claimed that the nominations for Fifa were at the behest
of the FA. The FA moved to have Benn’s claim against it struck
out on the basis that it was not her employer.
#Post#: 97496--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lisa Benn
DIR By: DublinRef
Date: November 15, 2025, 8:34 am
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Thanks for sharing. Very interesting and troubling case. It
would also be interesting to discuss but I’ll refrain from doing
so until one of the admins looks at this as I know we have to be
careful when matters are before the courts.
#Post#: 97497--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lisa Benn
DIR By: ben
Date: November 15, 2025, 9:15 am
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Cheers for the report.
As per normal, ongoing case so just be mindful of posts.
#Post#: 97503--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lisa Benn
DIR By: TheThingFromLewes
Date: November 15, 2025, 12:02 pm
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--- Quote from: Ben link ---
>
> Cheers for the report.
>
> As per normal, ongoing case so just be mindful of posts.
>
--- End Quote ---
Yep. We don’t want to see bmb’s broomstick out and about in
posters anatomy!
#Post#: 97513--------------------------------------------------
Re: Lisa Benn
DIR By: aaa
Date: November 15, 2025, 1:39 pm
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As this is a live case, this thread will be lock until further
notice. Thank you.
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