Gender Discrimination In Sports – Study Reveals

A new study found that rugby union, football and snooker are among the worst offenders in the gender prize-money gap in sport.
The most rigid inequality between men and women in the data gathered by workplace equality champions Work180 came in the Six Nations, where the winners of the men’s event will receive £5 million this year while the victorious women’s team will get nothing.
In the same way, South African team were given £350,000 for their 2019 Rugby World Cup success where New Zealand’s women’s team received nothing for their 2017 victory.
The study also found that France received £29.6m for their victory in the 2018 men’s football World Cup, where last year the United States women’s side received only £3m for their World Cup success.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino promised last year “We have until 2023 to discuss about the prize money. I think we need to market it as well in a certain way. I’m very confident, I’m sure we can go higher than doubling.”
According to Work180, the winners of this season’s men’s FA Cup will receive £3.6m, while the winners of the women’s competition will earn just £25,000.
Measuring other sports, the scenario is much better. Such as tennis tournaments are providing equal prize money to the winners.
In cricket, 2019 women’s world cup winners got £2.8m where they got £1.2m during 2017 world cup.
In 2019, Work180 found the men’s winner was paid £23,000, compared to £10,000 for the women’s winner.
Gemma Lloyd, co-chief executive and founder of Work180 said, “Anyone who tries to argue that the rewards in some sports, such as women’s football, are lower because of viewing figures will be scoring an own goal. In many sports, such as tennis, women are already achieving pay parity because national bodies got behind women in sport and are investing in promoting them properly.”
“Audiences can only vote with their feet if they are offered the choice. This has a massive effect on pay and prize money, and some sports are clearly lagging well behind others. Some sports are to be congratulated on the advances they have made in closing the gender gap, but others are stuck in the dark ages. How can it be right that New Zealand’s women don’t get anything for lifting the rugby world cup, while South Africa’s men pocket £350,000? Our women sports stars play the same games as the men, run on the same pitches and make the same sacrifices for their careers. It’s time that sports’ governing bodies look at their pay structures and are asked what are they doing to give men and women equal pay,” he added.
> Dipto Paul