Absolute support for female arbitrators during pregnancyThe World Federation offers basketball (FIBA) through an important program.

“Our research has shown that there is a perfectly legitimate concern about the possibility of “marginalization” of female arbitrators during pregnancy. This gave us a clear signal to strategize and create a plan to keep these women on the pitch and limit any pregnancy suspensions,” said FIBA ​​Refereeing Chief Karl Jugebrand.

Disturbing Research

In 2020 and 2021, the Women in Basketball initiative, a key element of the global federation’s strategy, conducted a survey that showed women referees were widely concerned about the possibility of being banned from the courts during their pregnancy.

It is for this reason that FIBA ​​has developed the Pregnancy Program to support the careers of female referees and to inform and send instructions to local federations to ensure that pregnant women participate fully in basketball events.

The plan calls on National Federations to support women referees during their pregnancy in various ways. This can be achieved by involving them in training activities and workshops on the role of the members of the secretariat in a basketball game.

As such, female referees on maternity leave may be included in the FIBA ​​Match Referee Licensing Program if they so wish. This guarantees their participation in the licensing process after childbirth and after maternity leave, subject to other necessary conditions.

“Our goal, both for FIBA ​​and for the national federations, should be to offer the same access to training and other activities depending on the physical condition of the referees,” Junkebrand said. “We believe that with the FIBA ​​Referee Maternity Plan we can achieve this,” he concluded.