Carla Polo: "They have sent me a couple of times to wash dishes"

She and a camel. Both in an extreme close-up. It is the photograph that Carla Polo has on WhatsApp. She is in the desert of Oman, where she traveled alone in February 2022. "There was no one there, obviously. Who travels alone in the middle of covid to Oman?" That morning she wanted to see the sunset, and she found the animal. Sometimes she thinks she should change it, because it is not very serious, but it reminds her of a good moment and she leaves it for later. In her status she has written: "I can" (I can). A reminder for bad times, she says, not to forget that it is worth trying what you want.

Are you competitive?

— A lot!

But the referees neither lose nor win, right?

— It is true that when I am refereeing that does not matter to me. The only thing you want is to get it right. And to be one hundred percent impartial.

And what if suddenly a player rubs you the wrong way?

— When you referee 10-year-olds, you don't know anyone. Maybe you do say about some: how cute they are, but it makes no difference to you when refereeing.

Are you on any team?

— I suppose I shouldn't tell you...

Let me try at random, a strange name: Barça.

— Yes, I am a Barça fan. And I have refereed them, just as I have refereed Espanyol, where I played for many years, but when you make a decision you have thousandths of a second. There is no time to think about who you want to favor: you only see feet!

Do you feel responsibility?

— When you have had an impact on the result, yes. A penalty, a foul that ended in a goal… When I arrive at the dressing room I think: did I do well, right? And if you got it right, the satisfaction is great.

You do not have VAR.

— But do not underestimate the people in the audience… At futsal matches, some even stand on the sidelines and raise their arm to signal offside.

Are parents difficult?

— They create an environment that translates to the field, whether it is a healthy environment or one of excessive pressure.

What is the worst thing you have been told?

— I've been told to wash dishes a couple of times. But the worst was an incident with a parent, in a youth game. He came down to the pitch, emptied a water bottle on my head, then wrote on social media... But I don't want to give it importance because it is one case among many good experiences.

Yes, but it is serious.

— Yes, in fact he was writing a lot on social media and I reported it. It turned out that he had already had some problems and the club itself banned him from entering the field.

I can even imagine the children feeling embarrassed...

— Recently, in fact, a girl ended up crying because her father wouldn't stop telling her what she had to do. And I often hear coaches saying: "Don't listen to your parents, we've already told you. Don't listen to them!".

More than one must believe that their child will be the new Messi.

— Yes, and lately we have been seeing it with the girls. This is new, because now they know that their daughter can be a professional footballer, and some think they have the next Alexia.

Speaking of Alexia... You played with her, didn't you?

— She was very good, but no one could imagine everything that has happened. When we were little it was unthinkable to play at the Camp Nou, earn thousands of euros, do commercials...

And what do you think now?

— Well, an 8-year-old girl today knows that it is possible to dedicate herself to football. It is so good that so many walls have been broken down. Alexia has been the boom, the one who paved the way, and now other players like Claudia Pina or Laia Codina can enjoy it. I remember when I used to referee them at 12 or 13 years old, and I could already see that something was changing in Barça's youth football.

Finish the sentence: being a referee is...

— A life decision. In the end, it's 13 years, a long time dedicated to this.

Why did you start?

— One day, before practice we were told: "There are two gentlemen who will give a talk". It turns out that the federation was running a campaign to promote female refereeing and we could take a free course. And I like that 7, 8, 9-year-old kids see that there are girls refereeing, you know?

I was going to ask you about the worst match, but I understand it's the one with the dad and the water bottle...

— Mmm... No, I think it's one from last season when it was windy, raining, terribly cold, and I almost ended up with hypothermia. In fact, just when we finished the match, the federation sent out a statement saying that the weekend was cancelled. That day I was thinking: what are we all doing here? The girls, the parents, all of us freezing to death... The following week I asked not to referee. I had a really bad time.

But something makes you come back... What are the best memories?

— The finals, the important matches. For example, a Valencia-Levante match in the Women's First Division. There were 22,000 people in the stadium.

Does it pay well?

— It is extra income. In the end, I am not a professional referee, it is like a hobby. Depending on the match, 30, 50, or 100 euros are paid.

And the professional referees?

— Around 300,000 annually. They are professionals starting from the Men's Second Division.

It's awesome.

— There is a fixed salary, and then you get paid per match. They also carry advertising, and there is a part of income derived from that. It is the business of football: a well-paid profession...

And they work one or two days per week!

— But in the end they dedicate their whole lives to refereeing, to being physically fit, good nutrition, knowing the rules of the game well... There are many things.

What is football to you?

— Everything. My life revolves around this.