Safe and celebratory culture is the goal for women’s sports tournaments

By Leila Lois

I'm not much of a follower of televised sport, except for the mandatory rugby growing up as a child in Aotearoa with an older brother that idolised Jonah Lomu. However, one trend in sports spectatorship I can get behind is the growing appreciation of women's sport. Historically, women's sports players (not unlike ballet dancers, of which I was one) have been underpaid, unsung and faced discriminatory treatment in tournaments and locker-rooms.

This year, the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup seems to have risen above these historical biases and challenges to reveal a vibrant, strong community of women in sport who are inspirational for viewers. The Seven Network, the tournament's free-to-air broadcaster, said a record audience of 7.2 million people tuned in for Australia's 7-6 penalty shootout win over the French in Brisbane on Saturday. We might wonder what is changing in this space however, and what still needs to change to ensure that women in sport get the recognition, renumeration, and respect that they deserve.

Recognition

Emily, our designer at MASSIVE, said that the vibe at the Spain versus Costa Rica game, which she attended at the Wellington Westpac arena on 21st July, was a ‘great experience'. 'The vibe was better than I thought,’ she added, ‘it was cool to see lots of people out supporting women's sports. I did netball growing up and it's great to see these role models for the next generation.’

Certainly, spectatorship and press coverage for this Fifa Women's World Cup is higher than previous ones and the buzz is infectious. MASSIVE's news editor Sammy Carter has also been following the games and noted that many of her guy friends are enjoying the tournaments ‘more than people expect’. We all know that men's rugby is wildly popular with young men in New Zealand, ‘but it has been a refreshing surprise seeing how animated my guy mates have got during the matches- they're loving it.’ Girl Power.

Renumeration

It is a well-known fact that across many sectors, women are still vastly underpaid compared with men, this is true also of the sports industry. In New Zealand, women earn an average 10% less than their male colleagues.1 So what is the situation for female sports players? We can look at this year's Fifa Women's World Cup players to get a picture. According to a Fifa report published in 2022, the average salary of paid female footballers is just £11,3002 Lobbying and pressure on Fifa’s president, Gianni Infantino, has led to Fifa aiming to equalise payments for the next 2026 men’s and 2027 women’s World Cups. So we're not quite there yet on women achieving fair renumeration for their participation in popular telelvised sports, but at least this goal has been made for the ensuing tournaments.

Respect

With better recognition, and renumeration, we would expect more respect for female football players. However, a recent Op-Ed by author Anima Adjepong3, has revealed the harassment and abuse culture that persist in the women's football industry. It seems that, like other elite sports and performance industries, this abuse thrives in silence. Women are starting to come forward with stories so that such practices can be riddled out and a nurturing and respectful training environment can be developed for the players, but it is an ongoing issue that needs dedicated attention.

As Adjepong asserts, the increased mainstream attention and recognition this year's Fifa Women's World Cup is receiving is an opportunity to address the lack of respect and abuse culture that thrives on silence in women's sports. The Fifa Women's World Cup 2023 may mark a turning point in women's sports where female sports are exciting mainstream audiences, and with that comes a responsibility to fight for better conditions for players and a safe and celebratory culture.

1 Data taken from www.employment.govt.nz 2022 Gender Pay Gap Survey

2 Suzanne Wrack, July 2023, Players at 2023 Women’s World Cup to be paid fees directly by Fifa for first time, The Guardian

3 Amina Adjepong, August 2023, With all eyes on the Women’s World Cup, it’s time to stop focusing on players’ sexuality, The Guardian