With the start of the Women's Football League, Portuguese female referees are returning to the pitch and gaining greater visibility in the national sporting landscape. The reality of female refereeing in Portugal has been growing, but a fundamental question arises: what happens when motherhood temporarily interrupts a career in refereeing.
Plan B from the Portuguese Football Federation was created precisely to address this reality. The program aims to support female referees during pregnancy, the postpartum period and the process of returning to the pitch, seeking to ensure that motherhood does not mean the end of a career in refereeing.
This plan represents an initiative by the federation to reconcile female referees' professional lives with motherhood, offering conditions that allow women to continue practicing refereeing after becoming mothers. The existence of this type of support reflects a change in how Portuguese football approaches gender equality and the inclusion of women in sport.
