26 Mar 2015

For a long time sport was known to be a men business and hence women were sidelined and relegated to the stands to cheer and support men, but today we see women active in sport as athletes, administrators and coaches.

Sport in Botswana has tremendously grown over the years and it is no doubt that women play a crucial role in this realisation and hence deserve to be recognised as much as their male counterparts.

In the past, women and men could compete in the same contest but different category depending on the gender, but a man would be rewarded handsomely while a woman is given maybe half of what a man pockets.  Notably, some sport codes in Botswana have altered these disparities and standardised prize money for both genders.

Botswana Volleyball Federation is one example; as since their partnership with Mascom for the league sponsorship as winners from all categories pocket same amount despite gender.  Nevertheless some codes are still lagging behind in this regard as men still hold an upper hand in prize money. 

Of late, people have been inquisitive about prize money disparities in sport and this is how associations responded to the outcry:  Botswana Chess Federation public relations director, Keenese Katisenge stated that the prize money is standard in all BCF events contrary to the perception that men are rewarded better.

She stated that there is confusion out there as people believe that there is disparity in BCF prize money which favours men.  Nevertheless, she explained that the Open Section which carries the highest prize money is open to all players regardless of gender and rating.

“The open section is not for men only; women can also compete in this category if willing. It is only that women never register under the open sector,” she said.

She stated that as BCF they realised that in most cases, men beat women in the open section and hence introducing other sections that would also allow women to compete among themselves which gives them advantage because they can still go to the open section.

She stressed that people should know that women can still compete under the most competitive division which is the open section if willing which would guarantee them the most lucrative prize if they win.

BAA former spokesperson, Ipolokeng Ramatshaba said BAA’s prize money differs in long distance races due to the fact that men run longer distances.  “You take cross country for example, senior men run 12km while senior women run 8km and we feel it is fitting that men are rewarded more.”

However, Ramatshaba said in instances where men and women compete in the same races like the 21km and 42.2km the prize money is the same. He further stated that in track and field championships prizes are equivalent across all genders as athletes compete in similar events.

The spokesperson highlighted that they promote the participation of women in sports and hence them standardizing the prizes in same events that both men and women compete in. 

The International Working Group on Women and Sport (IWG) secretary general, Game Mothibi stated that women should be compensated equal as their male counterparts because sport has no boundaries.

She said play rules and play structures are all the same and hence incentives should not favour men and disadvantage women. Mothibi further stated that sponsors should be willing to promote women sport at the same level they do for men which she said could help take sport to greater heights.

She gave an example of Amantle Montsho whom she said for a long time was Botswana’s sole prime athlete attracting lots of exposure and hence encouraged all other codes to support and market their female athletes in order to sell them to the rest of the world.

She said giving athletes equal treatment would also encourage more women to take part in sport in realising that there is a future in sport. Mothibi called on media to help profile women in sport to place them in the global sphere. ENDS