Martin Ho demands more support for WSL referees after Arsenal penalty defeat

Ho questions penalty that decided north London derby

Tottenham manager Martin Ho has called for more support for Women's Super League referees after a controversial penalty decided his side's derby defeat by Arsenal at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Arsenal won 2-1, with the decisive goal coming from Alessia Russo's spot-kick in the 56th minute. Referee Phoebe Cross awarded the penalty after Lisa Baum's shot bounced off the post and Cathinka Tandberg's clearance hit Tottenham team-mate Ella Morris' outstretched hand.

According to the laws of the game, if the ball hits a hand after it has been played by a team-mate, an indirect free-kick should be awarded.

'It's not within the laws of the game'

Ho said his understanding of the rule was different: "My interpretation of the rule is if your team-mate hits it and your team-mate is one yard away, time and distance is taken into account and it's not a penalty.

"That's what we were told at the start of the season in the referee's meeting. I asked the question, 'how is it [a penalty] from that distance?' They couldn't give me an answer on the pitch.

"I said I would come and speak to them after the game because I want to understand it, I want to understand what they're seeing. Then I can accept a decision that is there. When that decides a game, it's frustrating, because it's not within the laws of the game."

Standards 'got worse than last year'

Ho acknowledged that WSL referees have "a hard enough job", but believes standards have "got worse than last year". The league currently has no use of video assistant referees (VAR) or goal-line technology, and not all officials are full-time.

Earlier this month, the Guardian reported that the wait for full-time WSL referees was set to continue until 2029, despite a recent funding boost. That reporting relates to October 2026 coverage of the league's three-year funding plan.

Asked how standards could improve, Ho said: "They need more support and more full-time [referees].

"I understand there is probably a rule where they can't do more than one game on a weekend and that's nothing against any of the referees, but they had an elite referee [Lisa Benn] on the side of the pitch. For a big game, put them in the middle.

"I think that's where they need more support, more training, because when you look at most decisions that are going on, there's a lot of controversy in a lot of games.

"We got two bookings in the first half but we were being dragged back by the shirt by Arsenal players and didn't get nothing. That's probably the frustrating part."

League table

Tottenham still sit one point above rivals Arsenal in the WSL table. BBC Sport has contacted WSL Football for a response.