Emanuela Rusta: The referee fighting gender inequality in football

Little by little, women are gaining more and more media presence in the world of football, not only through the unstoppable growth of women's football but also within the men's field through refereeing. However, there is still a long way to go and much to fight for.

Emanuela Rusta from Elbasan (Albania) used the media attention from her role as the main referee in the Women's Champions League match between Real Madrid and Sporting de Portugal to highlight the challenges women face in football.

In an interview with the French agency AFP, she openly denounced the ongoing issues regarding gender inequality in the sport, drawing attention to the struggles of female referees and players.

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She was the first woman to referee a match in her country's Super League (men's), which catapulted her onto the international stage.

However, this meteoric rise as a professional referee has been marred at all times by s e x i s m - something deeply rooted in the world of football - something she deals with on the regular, not only on the football fields, but also through social networks and the media.

As she explained in her interview with AFP, she has often denounced the excessive exposure simply because she is a woman.

She has even become the subject of sensational headlines that underestimate her ability as a professional referee, referring to non-sporting issues, very far removed from her work on the field.

"They should focus more on my professionalism than on other things," warned Rusta, recalling one of the headlines that had bothered her the most throughout his career: 'The s e x y referee who raises the temperature'.

"You have to fight hard to be accepted. You have to shatter the glass ceiling," said the Albanian referee, while stressing that "refereeing is not a question of gender, but of competence."

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"To make good decisions you need to know the rules of the game perfectly, but also to be physically fit and have a great ability to concentrate," she said in the interview as the keys to being a good referee, regardless of gender.

In this regard, Rusta stressed that she is passionate about the gym with a solid physical training, which she has always accompanied by "a rigorous professional approach." Issues that, in her opinion, she fulfils in each of the matches she directs.

The Albanian referee started in the world of sport away from football, playing basketball in her hometown. However, she got closer to the world of refereeing during her university days.

She began by officiating children and then spent three years refereeing women's matches, which would be the key to becoming the first woman in her country to referee men's Super League matches.

Today, Rusta combines her work in refereeing with her job as a Physical Education teacher at a high school, two areas from which, she says, she has not stopped fighting for women to start having more and more prominence despite the barriers that exist.

"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 will be four women refereeing a match in the top men's category," she said.

"Although it is apparently a predominantly male environment, I feel respected and appreciated for the work I do in the field. As long as you consider it a professional relationship, you are correct, objective and dedicated, there is no lack of help from colleagues and the Association," she concluded.

Her goal is to seek the respect and recognition she deserves on the pitch. As a female reference in Albania, she represents a new wave of women like her, who wish to break stereotypes.