Claudia Umpierrez was suspended for 4 matches after the Referees Committee found that there were merits to punish her for some statements to the Polideportivo program that she carried out last January. The referee plans to appeal. The ruling of her case had been awaited for a couple of weeks, after it was recommended a suspension for between three and five games because of what was considered a minor offence for making statements that allegedly criticized the technical criteria for taking some decisions. Meanwhile, Umpierrez's side clarified some discordant points to Ovacion with what was expressed by a source from the AUF when explaining why Umpierrez receives 12% less than the rest of the international referees.
The first has to do precisely with remuneration. Umpierrez is an international referee, while in Uruguay she is not paid as such, but as a first division referee, since they understand that she is only a female international referee. And that is where the 12% difference is generated. However, FIFA does not differentiate by gender, but by category. This means that there is not a salary range for women and another for men, but for competitions. What does this mean? As an example, referees are paid less in a women's World Cup than in a men's World Cup and when the referees participate in the women's competitions they receive the per diem stipulated for that competition and the same happens when the referees appointed to a men's tournament, so in all cases the remuneration is the same for men and women. FIFA, then, does not differentiate between men and women, but the payment depends on the category of the competition. Therefore, it is understood that neither should the AUF.
FIFA does not differentiate between international referees for women's tournaments and men's tournaments, but everyone can referee in any event. Ovacion had already given the example that Umpierrez herself had refereed at the 2019 U-17 Men's World Cup in Brazil, but there are even more recent examples. In the match between Universidad Catolica and Nacional for the Copa Libertadores a little over a week ago, Brazilian Neuza Back was the second assistant, while her compatriot Edina Alvez was fourth referee. Even the latter made history by being the first woman to lead a men's Club World Cup match in February this year. Another example? In Libertadores 2020, Argentine Mariana De Almeida became the first assistant appointed to a Copa Libertadores match that also featured Nacional in his visit (with victory) to Racing. In all the cited cases, it is understood that the female referees received the same amount as the men who fulfilled the same functions in other similar games.
The third point of contention is the use of the FIFA badge by Umpierrez within Uruguay. The AUF it announced that she cannot wear it in local men's tournaments because she is international only at the female level. Beyond the fact that this point has already been explained above, it must also be pointed out that Claudia is already wearing the badge in the Uruguayan Championship games because there was a resolution of the Referees Association of October 15 of last year that states: "The referees and assistants are authorized from now to use their international badges in all their categories, to the extent that they meet the physical requirements established in this regard."
Source: Ovacion
