As the men’s sports teams continue to have their allowances and tournament prize money increased every other year, their women counterparts seem to be left behind in almost every discipline.
Some teams receive just peanuts, whereas others receive literally nothing in prize money. This is true for sports like Netball. In the recently concluded Netball World Cup in Liverpool, England, tournament winners New Zealand walked away with nothing in prize money.
This means that our own She Cranes who finished 7th also received nothing from International Netball Federation (INF), the organizing body. The She Cranes won four matches out of eight to achieve their best ever netball world cup finish.
With that being said, you would think that the local netball governing body Uganda Netball Federation (UNF) would compensate the team wholesomely, but no news of that has been released yet.
Reports say that each She Cranes player received Shs2000,000 in allowances in order to get to the training camp, Shs5m before departing for Liverpool, and an additional Shs5m was given to them last week. There is a disturbing difference in the money awarded to females and that awarded to men.
Women sports governing bodies and organizing committees say the reason for this is that women sports don’t get as many hefty sponsorships for the events, and that the audience is relatively lower as compared to that of men’s sports.