“The pandemic has highlighted inequality in sport” | Interview with Sarah Townsend

You are a member of the European Commission’s EU High-Level Group (HLG) on gender equality in sport. Why do you think the EU High-Level Group (HLG) on gender equality in sport is important? What are the groups’ aims and objectives?

The purpose of the EU High-Level Group (HLG) on gender equality in sport is to make proposals to the European Commission, Member States and the Sport Movement in the field of gender equality in sport which will lead to the implementation of concrete actions at national and European level. I think bringing people of different profiles in sport together to reflect on how sport can move to its next step is essential. The general goal is to level the playing field with regard to sport, making it accessible to everyone; and finding the means by which to do this. I believe it is time for sport to move beyond the binary consideration to make it truly democratic; the work being undertaken by both EGLSF and the ENGSO EWS committee supports this wider perspective for sport, the goal being inclusion, challenging discrimination in sport and improving access to sport for all LGBTIQ+ people.

As a member of the EWS committee; in your opinion, how is Covid-19 changing the equality versus inequality balance in the European sport sector?

I think the pandemic has highlighted inequality in sport on many levels – in elite and grassroots sport, and in the traditional binary gender division of sport. At the elite level, financially, women athletes have always been in a more precarious situation than their male counterparts. They are usually on lower salaries and have less advantageous contracts for example, so even if they are furloughed on a salary percentage, this may not result in a living wage. And certain athletes’ salaries depend entirely on presence at matches or training camps so their loss of income is 100%. For women trainers and coaches, as investment in women’s programs is halted, and women’s teams are cut, so are the already sparse support and management roles. When we can get back to some kind of normalcy, the recovery for women’s sport will be complicated. Even at an amateur level, in grassroot sport, with revenues slashed or non-existent, in recovery many sponsors will fall back on investing in “traditional sport” – read men’s sport – because of the perceived profit advantages. The momentum that had started to gather as a result of events such as the FIFA women’s world cup in 2019 has been stopped and getting it back will be an uphill battle. The mediatisation of women’s sport – that plays an important role in motivating people to sport – is down: of 52,7 % of the articles in the French sport paper ‘L’Équipe’ written about COVID19 between March 14 and May 10 2020 only 2,42 % mentioned women’s sport. And the vitriol around inclusion in sport needs to be addressed quickly – sport is one of the key battlegrounds of the anti-gender movement, which has gained momentum during the pandemic – resulting in decisions such as that taken by World Rugby to institute a ban on transgender women competing in global competitions like the Olympics and the women’s Rugby World Cup. Decisions like these are sending a signal that there is no place for Trans athletes in sport – at any level. And this is a real concern. The post-COVID recovery subject is huge and deserves a great deal of reflection, but we do need to ensure that the reflection and decision-making processes are inclusive!

What do you think needs to be changed in the European sport sector in order to reduce inequalities and achieve equality?

As already highlighted in the “Gender Equality in Sport – Proposal for Strategic Actions 2014-2020”, inequalities in sport are also a reflection of societal inequalities – domestic situations and legacy from physical education at school – as well as considerations from the sport environment and structures – coach/trainer attitudes and lack of gender-diversity understanding, safe sport environments, traditional decision- making boards and processes that prioritize sport unfairly. We are at a moment now that we understand what needs to be done – at least at some level – and now it needs to be done. We need action. Maybe some form of reporting system so that monitoring and evaluation can be established? There needs to be better consideration for disenfranchised sport sectors such as the LGBTIQ+ community; better cooperation between EU Institutions and the sport movement at both elite and grassroots level.