Pay Disparity in Indian Sports Arena and the Way Ahead

29th April, 2024 - 11:26 am Categories: Sports Law 0 Comments

Introduction – Pay Disparity in Indian Sports Arena

Gender Pay disparity has been a pervasive issue in all sports in India. Female athletes in the country are often paid significantly less than their male counterparts despite achieving similar levels of success and representing the country on many international platforms. Be it Cricket, Hockey, Badminton or any other sports, women have been paid very less as compared to the men in same ports. “The pay issue for female cricketers is not just about what reaches their bank accounts, but is also a fight against systemic discrimination. Addressing inequalities in pay also involves tackling inequalities elsewhere.”^[i] The primary explanation given for this compensation disparity is that male sports bring in far more money than any female sports. In addition, some of the arguments made for the uneven compensation include the fact that female players play less than male players and that their teams don’t get as many sponsors or sell out arenas. All of these things, meanwhile, are contributing to the historically low financing and underrepresentation of women in sports. The excuses used to underpay women in sports are the mistakes made by administrators, who have kept women in the sport as second-class citizens. Rather than the player, the onus should be on those in charge of marketing and managing the sports to attract spectators, sponsors, and money to female athletes.

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Recently, the BCCI announced that India’s women cricketers would earn the same match fees as their male counterparts in international cricket matches. This decision has been a significant step in the direction of equal pay to female players in the country. With this move, India becomes the second nation only after New Zealand, to implement equal pay policy in International Cricket.

However, pay disparity remains a significant issue in Indian sports beyond cricket. Female athletes in other sports such as hockey, tennis, and athletics still receive significantly lower salaries and fewer opportunities than male athletes. This inequality is even more pronounced when it comes to non-elite athletes, who struggle to make ends meet while pursuing their sporting dreams.

Looking at the International scenario, steps have been taken in Tennis, for the payment of equal pay to be given to male and female sportspersons. Today, all four major tennis tournaments, which is Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open offer equal prize money to both male and female players.^[ii] Apart from this, there are many other examples where equal pay has been made a reality in many nations. For example, the equal pay to women cricketers in New Zealand.^[iii]

Thus, keeping in mind such instances from India and abroad, where equal pay has been offered to women players, all sports association in India must strive to make an equal pay policy, offering the women players equal pay and equal opportunities in their respective sports.

WAY FORWARD

Even if the relationship between labour law and sports may be complicated, it’s important to keep the power relationships between the different industry players under check. The lack of sports legislation in India as well as the inadequate and restrictive employment regulations are to blame for the current legal flaws. It is important to provide clear instructions to regulatory bodies like the Sports Authority of India (SAI), National Sports Federations (NSFs), and other authorities regarding their adherence to employment regulations. Furthermore, a broader judicial interpretation of the nation’s labour laws is needed to bring sports stakeholders—especially athletes—under their jurisdiction.

To truly address the issue of pay disparity in Indian sports, there needs to be a concerted effort to promote gender equality at all levels. This includes providing equal opportunities and resources for female athletes, creating a level playing field, and promoting gender sensitivity among sports administrators, coaches, and fans alike. The first and foremost step towards the equality in female sports should be the increased amount of investment in female sports.^[iv] This will not only help in getting viewership and sponsors, but also in participation, academics, infrastructure and skill development. Other actions that may need to be performed include all state associations in every sport implementing and enforcing contracts at the domestic level. In addition, the contracts must to be divided between flexible and fixed components, with no discrimination based on gender on the fixed components. Parity between the sexes should be the goal of components like travel reimbursements and match fees on every level. Finally, as both men and women are representing their countries on a larger platform, the reward and participation fee in major competitions need to be equal for all genders.

Thus, to conclude, there must be the applicability on labour laws in the arena of sports, which would ensure that there is no unequal treatment between the male and female players. It would also ensure the fair implementation of contracts between the sportspersons and the federation they are part of. Along with that, with the involvement of labour laws in sports, the athletes would not be deprived of other benefits that the workers and employees are entitled to under the various labour welfare enactments, such as social security and working conditions laws. Apart from this, there must be concerted efforts from all the stakeholders to improve the situation of female sports in India, and ensure the fair and equal pay to them as compared to males in all sports.

Author: IPSITA SINHA, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at  Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.

REFERENCES

[i] Sneha Pradhan and Karunya Keshav, Indian cricket: Why a movement towards equal pay for men and women is important, https://scroll.in/field/995395/indian-cricket-why-a-movement-towards-equal-pay-for-men-and-women-is-important, (Last visited May 5, 2023)

[ii] Nadja Popovich, Battle of the sexes: charting how women in tennis achieved equal pay, https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/sep/11/how-women-in-tennis-achieved-equal-pay-us-open, (Last visited May 6,2023)

[iii] Historic! New Zealand declares equal pay for male, female cricketers, July 05, 2022, https://www.livemint.com/news/world/historic-new-zealand-declares-equal-pay-for-male-female-cricketers-11657025393902.html.

[iv] Sneha Pradhan and Karunya Keshav, Indian cricket: Why a movement towards equal pay for men and women is important, https://scroll.in/field/995395/indian-cricket-why-a-movement-towards-equal-pay-for-men-and-women-is-important, (Last visited May 5, 2023)