Women’s World Cup final ref Tori Penso: ‘Male players chip in about everything’

The American official has been chased by angry fans during her career but she has no regrets over a career that has taken her across the globe

As a teenage referee, Tori Penso knew her job would involve running. Yet taking charge of a heated game played between 16-year-old boys, she never thought running would actually mean sprinting to her car to escape three men enraged by her performance. Penso, though, can run fast. She made it to her car, locked the doors, fled from her pursuers, and then burst into tears.

I said that I don't want to do this," Penso, now 37, says. I don't need people chasing me. I can do something else."