Women are ‘second class citizens’ in sport governance and management

The 2014 Asia Pacific World Sport and Women (APWSW) Conference has been told that women will remain “second-class citizens” in sport as a result of their negligible representation on sport governing bodies.

Speaking at the two-day APWSW Conference, Women on Boards Australia Executive Director Claire Braund highlighted her organisation's Gender Balance in Global Sport Report research that showed just two women serve on the board of world football governing body FIFA, one on the world cycling’s governing body and no women at all on the governing body of the International Tennis Federation.

Braund called for “targets with teeth” to increase women’s representation on both international and national sports governing bodies.

Also highlighting that women’s sports make up just 9% of sports coverage in Australian TV news, Braund stated “fewer female voices at the top level in sport … will result in female athletes remaining second-class citizens in terms of media coverage, funding and salaries.”

Despite setting a target in 2000 that one in five members of National Olympic Committees be women, research published by Women on Boards in July shows that more than 84% of seats on the committees, responsible for administering the Olympics in their respective countries, are held by men.

Braund did highlight that through intitiatives such as the Sydney Scoreboard and with the backing of the Australian Sports Commission, Australia was “leading the way” in women having women on the board of sport governing bodies helping to run the country’s top sports, but said “targets with teeth” were needed both domestically and internationally to ensure more chairs in the boardroom were filled by women.

Braund called for sport governing bodies to be forced to disclose their gender balance and the funding they allocate to male athletes relative to female one, and for funding to be tied to organisations meeting their gender targets.

Launched in 2010, the Sydney Scoreboard recently reported a slight increase in the 2014 proportion of women representation in sport’s leadership positions compared to 2010.

The 2014 Asia Pacific World Sport and Women Conference is being staged at the Sydney Cricket Ground on on 27th and 28th October.

For more information go to www.apwsw.com.au

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