On the occasion of International Women's Day on 8 March 2024, the Council of Europe's Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) is holding its annual gender equality roundtable with a focus on sport officiating.
The roundtable discussion includes personal experiences from female referees from a range of sports. Specialists from various countries are presenting existing initiatives on how to combat discrimination against referees. Panellists are also discussing what the Council of Europe is doing in this field and the steps that should be taken to combat discrimination against officiators.
On this occasion, the first findings from the new data collection on officiating from the joint European Union-Council of Europe project "All In Plus: promoting greater gender equality in sport" will be presented, including a data update reflecting the clear imbalance in sports officiating in terms of gender equality.
Gender-based discrimination and inequalities are recurrent in the sports world, negatively impacting athletes, coaches, referees, and others, thus ultimately harming the integrity of sport. Such discriminatory acts are counter to the principles set forth in the European Sports Charter.
Event webpage and speakers' biographies
