WSL: Are referee decisions having a negative impact on the outcome of the league?

The popularity of women’s football has skyrocketed recently and this season of the Women’s Super League has been a major talking point for a number of reasons.

A lucrative new broadcast deal and a number of blockbuster signings have stolen the headlines, making this perhaps the most successful and popular campaign in the league’s history.

However, the positives have since taken a backseat as the standard of officiating has forced its way to centre stage.

Questionable refereeing decisions are part and parcel of football. Before VAR was introduced into the men’s Premier League, controversial penalty decisions rocked the sport. In fact, such decisions still make headlines even with state of the art technology.

Women’s football is yet to introduce goal-line technology, let alone the can of worms topic that is VAR. But in the absence of these resources, the sport is being held back as regular officiating problems stand out like a sore thumb.

A professional football league regarded by many as the most competitive in the world should have professional officials to match. However, the WSL is yet to implement full-time referees and the gulf in standard is becoming increasingly more noticeable.

While VAR does still have its flaws and many decisions can still go the wrong way, the overwhelming majority of professionals are pushing for it to be implemented in the women’s game.

Chelsea boss Emma Hayes once said it was like those working in women’s football were “second-class citizens” while the rest of the world’s elite level football leagues have been making use of the new assistant refereeing technology for years now.

Watching replays of incidents on the pitch has now become a normality in the men’s game but is treated as a