There are currently almost 1100 referees in Berlin football. Striking: more and more women let the 22 men on the square dance to their tune. For me it takes a lot of courage. Because such a football field is not a monastery school.
“Hey, that chick is whistling,” resounded from the edge of the field across the pitch during the game between VfB Friedrichshain and Blau-Gelb Berlin. So much disrespect makes me angry. Especially since the girls usually lead the games without assistants on the lines. Bored club representatives often stand to one side, raising their flag more like a paintbrush when painting a wall.
But there is also praise for this morning for director Sabrina Frischmuth. “Men, relax, she does it properly,” calls a blue and yellow supervisor. Bravo!
But the question arises, why is a young woman doing this to herself?
The job between a horde of hotheads is not exactly subject to an entertainment tax. There are 24 euros in the eight-class district league, plus six euros for travel costs. “For me it’s personality training,” says the 32-year-old, who earns real money as a team leader in human resources. For women, she whistles in the third highest league. “Men’s games are more demanding than women’s games,” says the referee.
Respect on the pitch, restlessness from the spectators
It sometimes happens that she is approached verbally, but it is not the rule. The referee tends to feel the respect of the teams towards her. “Perhaps even a little more than with a male colleague,” says Frischmuth.
Even with teams with a migration background – Berlin has plenty of them – there are hardly any problems. “Due to the mentality of these players, it’s a bit more emotional,” the referee reports, “but mostly it’s just the spectators who bring in unrest from outside.”
But once the petite woman was actually on the verge of putting down her pipe forever. “Over the entire 90 minutes, every decision I made was discussed loudly,” recalls Frischmuth, “then I thought afterwards, I won’t do that to myself anymore.”
But she stayed on the ball. And that’s good for Berlin football and for women like Sabrina with a lot of courage. They have my respect!