Female referee Emanuela Rusta has revealed she is fed up of being referred to as 'the sexy ref' after officiating in the Women's Champions League.
Rusta, 30, hails from Albania, and after becoming the first woman to referee a men's Albanian SuperLiga match she has made the step up to the European stage in recent months. She has previously been active on social media, posting glamorous photos of herself in a bikini and working out at the gym, but has now shut down her Instagram account due to receiving sexist messages on the platform.
Rusta, who recently refereed the Champions League women's match between Sporting Lisbon and Real Madrid, believes media coverage of her appearance has made it difficult for her to reach the same level as her male counterparts. 'They should focus more on my professionalism than on other things,' she told AFP, as quoted by Marca. Rusta has had to put up with headlines such as 'The sexy referee who raises the temperature' in her homeland, while another report in 2022 claimed she 'stole the show' in a Champions League match, despite only being the fourth official. Rusta added: 'You have to fight hard to be accepted. You have to blow the glass ceiling to pieces'. Despite having to deal with off-field comments about her physical appearance, Rusta feels she is respected on the pitch, and hopes to receive more exciting opportunities in her chosen profession. 'Refereeing is not a question of gender, but of competence,' she stated. 'The (Albanian) Referees Association has always focused on promoting women, so my case is not a coincidence or the end of the process. I hope that the day is not far off when there are four women refereeing a match in the top men's category. Although it is apparently a predominantly male environment, I feel respected and appreciated for the work I do on the field.'
Source: Daily Mail