The referee from Coruña Paula Lema was startled yesterday afternoon when a video emerged showing how she stoically endured the sexist insults of a fan in a match she directed in Bembibre last weekend. A follower shouted expressions like “Whore!” or “Go clean!” The referee insists that, although “progress has been made” in this area in recent years, this type of attitude is “common” with “the entire referee team”, not just her because she is a woman, in different meetings that have to be lead. That they focus on her because of that video that has gone viral on social networks affects sexist attitudes, which for her “are an aggravating factor”, but which in the end are part of a more global problem.
Mottowho whistled yesterday Menorca-Leyma and speaks on the way The Palms to continue with her activity, she feels supported by the FEB and has been in contact since yesterday afternoon with the new president, Elisa Aguilar. For the woman from A Coruña, this incident does not make her break one bit nor does it shake that vocation that she decided to turn into her profession years ago. “As a woman, I think it is important to create references. If it does not affect my daily life and serves to make those who come after me not put up with the same thing, at least I have achieved something,” she reaffirms, who feels strong to continue. The key is in education. “I have had references at home who have insisted that I not set limits for myself. My self-esteem is high, I feel supported. My friends or my family come to see me at games, my nephews always ask about me when they see someone whistling. a game. And, furthermore, if I set up a candy store, I’m not going to close it because someone comes to insult me. I make mistakes, like everyone, but I know the work I do. This is a very healthy sport and no one likes to see situations So”.
That family support does not mean that her blood boils when she attends situations of this type, even as a spectator. Also as a protagonist, because those who are next to her are sometimes the ones who suffer the most. “Sometimes I go to a meeting and I end up leaving, I go to have a coffee, because to see some things… And on top of that, the family, the friends have a hard time, it’s not worth it,” she points out.
The referee from A Coruña, in that sense, does warn that this greater general awareness of sexist attacks or, simply, insults to the arbitration team is not uniform. “There has been progress, yes, but there are certain places where, because you have paid the entrance fee, it seems that all of this is now free. There has already been a referee report since the weekend and it seems that it has to be published on social networks so that it can be taken measures,” warns about the decision of the Bembibre to condemn the events and expel its protagonist from his trail.
Beyond federative support, gestures of affection on your mobile phone or via social networks have multiplied. One of the last to criticize these sexist insults was Pau Gasol. “It is normal that it bothers him. He is a public figure, he has a responsibility and he does not like episodes like this in basketball,” he reaffirms.