Two 17-year-old boys have been arrested for allegedly directing misogynistic chants at a female referee during Birmingham City's win over Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
Rebecca Welch took charge of Birmingham's 2-1 win over the Owls in the Championship. The police acted swiftly after hearing the offensive chants during the match, which kicked off at 3pm.
A police spokesperson said: "We have arrested two boys for misogynistic chanting at the female referee during Birmingham City’s home game at St Andrew’s today (Nov 25). Our officers heard the chants being directed at the official and acted quickly to arrest the two, who are both 17. They are currently in custody on suspicion of a public order offence as we carry out enquiries.
"We don’t tolerate any form of hate and it is important hate crime is reported to us. Today is White Ribbon Day which is the start of a 16-day long campaign. It focuses on everyone, especially men and boys on what they can do to change the behaviour and culture that leads to abuse and violence against women and girls."
Rebecca Welch took charge of the game (Ulrik Pedersen/Getty Images)A Birmingham City spokesperson said: "Prior to Saturday’s Sky Bet Championship fixture with Sheffield Wednesday, a statement was issued on BCFC.com encouraging supporters to be respectful towards the match officials.
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"The Football Club are, therefore, deeply disappointed that two supporters were overheard by West Midlands Police officers engaging in misogynistic chanting towards today’s referee and are currently in custody on suspicion of a public order offence. Birmingham City strongly condemns all forms of discrimination and will support the police with their enquiries."
The arrests come after the club specifically warned their supporters against abusing Welch. "Unfortunately, when she last refereed at St. Andrew's, the Club received several reports of sexist and misogynistic abuse aimed at the official," Birmingham wrote pre-match. "This will not be tolerated and any individual reported for such behaviour will be asked to leave their seat by stewards.
"Furthermore, in accordance with the Club's behaviour matrix, foul and abusive language carries a potential ban of up to four matches, with discriminatory and hate speech being punishable with a maximum ban of five years."
It added: "The Club recognises that the vast majority of Bluenoses behave in an exemplary manner, however, there is a small minority who let the rest down.
"Birmingham City has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of discrimination and is committed to identifying, confronting and eliminating discrimination towards any group or individual based on a protected characteristic, with a number of reporting procedures available to supporters."
Welch made history earlier this season when she became the first female referee to be involved in a Premier League game by working as the fourth official in Fulham vs Manchester United. The 39-year-old is a rising star with the PGMOL and oversaw three games at the Women’s World Cup in the summer in Australia and New Zealand.
* An AI tool was used to add an extra layer to the editing process for this story. You can report any errors to webhomepage@mirror.co.uk
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