TL;DR: In the 2025 WNBA season there has been a rise in complaints from players, coaches, and fans regarding poor decision making by officials/referees. This has most notably affected the Indiana Fever and guard Caitlin Clark, but ALL TEAMS in the league have been negatively affected by officiating, and players such as Angel Reese (Chicago Sky) and Kelsey Plum (Los Angeles Sparks), as well as coaches such as Stephanie White (Indiana Fever) and Becky Hammon (Las Vegas Aces) have spoken up. This petition is not asking for officials to be fired, but rather serves as a demand for an increase in attention to be put on officiating in the WNBA and for the complaints of coaches and players to be seriously taken into consideration. This issue is not only important for the scores and outcomes of games, but for the safety of players, as a lack of proper calls by officials can lead to injury, whether through increased physicality by teams who see no repercussions, players taking frustrations about a lack of foul calls into their own hands, or both. 

Throughout the 2025 WNBA season there has been an uproar in complaints regarding officiating, more specifically to do with a lack of foul calls on plays that many would deem worthy of some kind of call. In certain cases where calls have been made, there have been complaints that such calls should have been upgraded. These instances have been most notable with Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, as she and her team have been at the receiving end of plays that many would deem fouls, yet no calls were made. However, this is an issue that has affected ALL TEAMS in the league, and many players as well as coaching staff members have spoken up about it. 

On June 17, 2025, the Connecticut Sun played the Indiana Fever, and during the game while Sun guard Jacy Sheldon was defending Caitlin Clark, Sheldon’s right hand made contact with Clark’s face. Clark shoved Sheldon in response, causing Sun guard Marina Mabrey to knock Caitlin Clark to the floor- this came after the whistle blew, meaning Mabrey’s action could not be seen as a “basketball play”. Clark, Mabrey, and Sun center Tina Charles were all issued technical fouls for this instance (Charles for wagging her finger in Clark’s face), however many argued that Mabrey should have been ejected for her action (her foul was later upgraded to a flagrant foul 2, however she was not ejected). Later in the game, Fever guard Sophie Cunningham committed a hard foul against Jacy Sheldon and the two of them (as well as others) got physical with each other, causing both of them to be ejected. While this alone seems like a fair call (both players fought, both were ejected), given the context of the entire game it seems that officials penalized Cunningham more harshly than they did Mabrey. One of the announcers for that game, Debbie Antonelli, called out officials, saying “I'm blaming this all on the officials tonight. This is their responsibility…If they had taken care of their business earlier, we wouldn't be in this situation right now…You can't eject her [Cunningham], because you didn't eject Mabrey”. Antonelli’s comment highlighted how the lack of proper officiating during the game led to players feeling the need to take matters into their own hands, which ultimately resulted in a fight where people could have been injured. The ejection of Sophie Cunningham for an action that could be seen (even though it likely wasn’t) as a basketball play, while refusing to eject Mabrey for an action that had much less to do with the basketball game itself, signals a lack of fairness and good judgment on the part of the officials. In the post game press conference for the game, Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White said, “When the officials don't get control of the ball game, when they allow that stuff to happen- and it's been happening all season long, it's not just this game- this is what happens … [they] got to get control of it, they got to be better”. Sophie Cunningham later spoke up about the issue, saying: “I think the refs had a lot to do with that. It was a build‑up for a couple years now of them just not, not protecting the star player of the WNBA” [referring to Caitlin Clark]. 

While that was the most discussed instance of poor officiating this season, it was not an isolated incident. Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon spoke up about what she deemed unfair officiating after a loss to the Washington Mystics on July 10, 2025: “I thought the officiating was awful… Jackie Young got fouled at 33 seconds (left) on that layup- no call…I would have challenged seven more calls, and won them. I have no idea what that was. Awful…I think the physicality is out of control”. Hammon’s comment about Aces guard Jackie Young came after Young drove to the basket and appeared to be fouled on her layup attempt, yet no call was made.

Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum spoke up about poor officiating after the June 9, 2025 game between the Sparks and the Golden State Valkyries. This came as a result of Plum playing a physical game where she consistently drove to the basket, yet was only given six free throws (one of which came as a result of a technical foul call, so it did not have anything to do with Plum specifically). In the post game press conference, Plum said, “I’m going to get fined for saying this, but like, I drive more than anyone in the league. So to shoot six free throws is f–ing absurd…I got scratches on my face. I got scratches on my body and these guards on the other team get these ticky‑tack fouls. I’m sick of it… They’re fouling the s–t out of me every single play…I talk to the refs nice, I pray before the game, like, f–k, I’m over it”. Plum was not fined for her comment. 

In the July 6, 2025 game between the Chicago Sky and the Minnesota Lynx, the Sky were given 8 free throws, compared to Minnesota’s 17, which Sky forward Angel Reese stated was unfair as the Sky played aggressively in the paint and should have been awarded more free throws: “It’s tough when you talk to officials, and I asked them, ‘Hey, we’ve only been to the free throw line twice up until the fourth quarter,’ and she tells me it’s not her job…[the officiating] has to be fixed. And I don’t give a damn if I get fined because that s–t is cheap, and I am tired of this s–t. ’Cause I’ve been nice and I’ve been humble with it but I am tired of this s–t”. Reese was not fined for her comment. 

While Plum and Reese were not fined for their comments, it is important to note that both of them assumed they would be. The inability of players to call out unfair officiating without fear of being financially penalized is another issue that must be examined, especially considering that the average WNBA player salary is $102,249.

There have been many more instances where fouls appeared to occur, yet officials did not make calls. This has been an issue that EVERY TEAM in the WNBA has faced. This issue not only unfairly tips scores in the direction of certain teams, but also has the potential to cause players to get injured- whether it be through a team perceiving that they can get away with more physical play, or a player on a team taking matters into their own hands because the officials did not properly handle a situation. 

This petition is not saying that WNBA officials need to be fired, shamed, or anything of that nature. Rather, this petition serves as a demand for increased attention to be placed on officiating in the WNBA, and for the complaints of coaches and players to be taken into consideration.