Business for the boys.
Get this.
While the Japanese men’s soccer team fly business class on their way to the London Olympics, the female team are stuck in economy.
Yep, there’s next to no leg room for the girls who are favourites to win a medal at this year’s games. But the men? Seats that turn into beds.
But apparently it’s not just Japan who stick their male athletes in one class and their females in another.
Australia is guilty of the practice too.
This from Fairfax:
Australia’s women basketballers have confirmed they also had different travel arrangements to the men’s squad for the journey to London. While the Boomers flew in business class, the Opals made the long-haul trip in premium economy – and that was an upgrade.
Basketball Australia this morning said it would look at introducing travel equity for the men’s and women’s teams after controversy erupted when it was revealed the Opals travelled to London in premium economy class while the Boomers relaxed in business.Basketball Australia acting chief executive officer Scott Derwin issued a statement where he said this would not longer be the case.”I am putting in place a review of our Olympic travel policy with the goal of ensuring there is equity between travel arrangements for the men’s and women’s teams attending future Olympics,” he said.
A spokesperson for Basketball Australia said that they always take into account players’ welfare and height and size is a major consideration. We did some research – Liz Cambage, who is on the women’s team, is 6 ft 7. While Adam Gibson, who is on the men’s team, is 6 ft 3.
It’s been tough to discover the actual facts of what has been going on here as different reports of unequal treatment have arisen. Some reports have said that the men’s and women’s team have separate budgets and simply choose to spend that money in different ways – the men on business upgrades but not the women.
But the Canberra Times reports “members of the Australian men’s basketball team have a written agreement from Basketball Australia that they will be flown business class for any flight over three hours. The women have no such arrangement.”
The story has got everyone talking today and Basketball Australia have been forced into action. Kristina Keneally, former NSW Premier and soon to be Basketball Australia’s new Chairwoman says there will be a review into the travel policy.
Comments
105 Comments so far
I’m not sure I have a complete handle on this. Are you females that are whinging about this saying that if the females were in business class and the men in premium economy you would be bellowing from the rooftops just the same? Or doesn’t equality work both ways?
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How many usernames are you going to comment under today? I’ve seen 4 within the past hour and you’re repeating yourself now. You’ve made your point: Women are whiny cows and men are hard done by in 2012. Is it really necessary to say the same thing over and over?
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For me I think the bigger issue here is that the men are able to fly business class on someone else’s dollar. Sorry, but if you want those sort of perks, pay for them yourself.
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Any news on whether each team’s budgets are comparable?
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I read on The Age website yesterday that the Opals actually receive more funding than the Boomers and that it is up to the management of each team to decide how it’s spent. The Boomers opted for business class travel, while the Opals spent their money on premium economy travel and splashed out in other ways.
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when i first saw this i thought ‘that cant be the full story’. and of course it wasnt. this is why i hate the media.
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Wow. How long will it take to get an update and/or correction? Usually, you guys are quick to take on advice that you’re mistaken. But not this time, so it seems.
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Hi steggz
We’ve been updating the story through the day as more facts come to light. From what I can see, there is still some disagreement about exactly what has gone on. It seems to be established now that the teams have their own separate budgets and choose how to spend them – yes. And we’ve updated the story accordingly.
What is still unclear is what those two separate budgets are. On top of that, it seems that it is part of the men’s team contract that for long flights they are flown business – regardless of budget – and that the women do not have such a clause in their contract.
Thanks for updating us though, as you say – we are always reading the comments and do like to correct any mistakes where they exist.
Jamila
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Yet none of the things you say have actually been added to the article
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I’m sorry, but a hidden paragraph 3/4 of the way through is not a proper update. And the facts have been laid out clearly.
The whole tone of the article should be different. Or focussed on what’s happening in Japan. Most of your article is based on choices the Opals made, rather than some unbalanced treatment. The article STILL says that Australia is guilty of unequal treatment! How is that truly updating the story?
I’m not sure what’s going on, but it could be seen by some as a case where it’s ok to lay claims of sexism and inequality quickly, but only slowly retract them when they are found to be unfounded.
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Why not give all Olympic athletes a ticket in economy class and then let them upgrade if they feel the need for it? Seems like the fairest way to go.
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Who wouldn’t upgrade?!
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I meant for the individual athlete to pay for their own upgrade if they want to.
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perhaps the story should be modified to include andrew gaze’s comments about how the individual teams choose which seats to get using funds from their budget? or are we just going to leave it up as a “OMG FEMALES BEING TREATED UNFAIRLY!!!” flag and not let the truth get in the way.
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How does it take three months to do a review?
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In protest, I shall boycott sushi bars for the duration of the games.
What’s more….I shall never travel in a Japanese vehicle again. That will show ‘em that I mean business !
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Well that’s done it for me ! See if I cheer for the Japanese soccer team this year !
Storm in a tea ceremony.
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I laughed at this. I didn’t want to. But it happened
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Men at the front, women at the back. Whltes at the front, blacks at the back. As commented below, that seemed ‘normal’ once too.
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Please recognise that the Opals CHOSE to fly premium economy, and from within Europe.
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Steggs, you don’t seem to realise that reality is irrelevant to a female. What is most important is vilifying men even if females are being treated equally
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Hmm.. chip on your shoulder there mate?
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Nah. It’s called – Truth. Something you would be very unfamiliar with
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/london-games/opals-opted-to-fly-economy-says-basketball-australia-head-scott-derwin/story-fne3ajoz-1226430434169
Each team chose to fly how they did. Andrew Gaze said as much on SEN radio this morning.
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Dont let facts get in the way of a good story re female oppression in the first world though. Can we delete this link please.
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i was going to say the same thing. sometimes it seems mamamia is way too quick to jump on the “OMG FEMALES BEING TREATED UNFAIRLY!!!” bandwagon.
if the women’s sponsors didn’t want to fork out extra to pay for the upgrade, that is another issue in itself, but to spin it like this is just a poor excuse for a story in my opinion.
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Thankyou for that forensic description of a condom, I’ll remember that in the heat of the moment and it’s likely to make me roll over and go to sleep…
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This comment has already been posted and deleted once before today, word for word. I replied to it this morning.
Like I said then.. it seems like there is a little group of people who are commenting on all the articles similar kinds of sentiments that often have no relevance to the article’s content.
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I have a feeling it’s just the same person commenting under different names.
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Generally when that happens it’s the same IP address and they get taken down pretty quickly but.
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Excuse me? Keep their legs closed?!
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If the two basketball teams received different seating and there are no other contributing factors, then that could be sexist, assuming it wasn’t a flip of a coin type of decision.
Not every 50/50 call that goes a man’s way is necessarily made by someone sexist or is a product of discriminatory practices.
Now on the other hand…
If the Men’s and Women’s team received similar funding and the men spent more on flights but less on, let’s say more on dinner’s in London then will Mamamia have a write up on how hard done by men are and how sexist it is.
I’m also going to hazard a guess that if the roles were reversed this would have NOT made the news.
I remember my last flight to USA and there were four bathrooms on the plane, but one of them was Female only, but the rest were unisex.
They do this in order to accommodate the needs of women.
Now if men are on average larger in both girth and height, would the same people who have no problem with the aforementioned policy if they made roomier seats available to men?
My guess is it would be a big friggin’ problem.
…and to preempt…
Yes, some of the women are taller than men on the basketball team, but the average height is much lower, I’m actually kinda surprised the same people that use the sort of phrase like “Yes men have problems, but “on average women face more”, are resorting to this logic now in direct contrast with the clarity of the points of view on related subjects.
Beat Up
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I see mamamia has left out the facts about how both teams have been free to choose which seats they want out of their overall budgets. You might want to update the story to include this information.
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I’d say that the treatment of women in places like afghanistan is a much more worthy cause than complaining about who gets to sit in the fron of the plane.
As far as seating goes, you’re more likely to survive a plane crash seated at the very back of the plane or over the wing next to the emergency exit, that’s way more important to me than getting a free drink.
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Wow! Equality, can I have a chip? One of those that are on your shoulder.
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Do you have a chip on your shoulder regarding seating arrangements on a plane?
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This is offensive and irrelevant – moderators!?!
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Why would you find the truth offensive and why is the comment irrelevant when we are talking about sexism? Or is sexism OK as long as it is only females doing it?
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Would it not make sense for a group of men who average something like 12 feet tall to be seated where thay can actually sit?
While there may be some semblence of sexism here, if the male team brings more money to the organisation then why shouldnt’ they reap the benefits?
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If the women’s team is more successul then why shouldn’t they reap the benefits?
It’s no fault of the women’s team thast the men’s may bring in more money. The women’s team is clearly more successful but unfortunately in this country (and many others) women’s sport is not held in as high regard.
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If women’s sport isn’t held in as high regard then I suggest that women support women’s sport a little more.
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That’s so simplistic. If the media supported women’s sport the way the support the men’s, a whole lot more people would start showing an interest in the women’s teams. I don’t even bother watching sport on the news – it’s generally all men, men, men.
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there is womens sport on tv, and guess what, whenever there is, it doesnt rate anything like mens sport. If there was demand, commercial tv would cash in. There simply isnt. End of story.
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Men’s sports have been hyped daily for decades and beyond. If women’s sport had the same hype and coverage, there would be supporters. End of story.
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Frustrated, supporting a sporting team is more than watching them on tv, it’s about joining the club, and paying money to go and watch them play, buying merchandise and other similar things.
Women have the power to do all of these things, but choose not to.
go figure.
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This is a beat up of the highest order. The female basketballers flew premium economy, not economy, because that is what “they” choose. The men’s basketball team, with a different budget (less than the women’s) chose to fly business. You could make an argument the men are not spending their money wisely. Now we have a crazy situation where Basketball Australia has been forced take the decision out hands of the women and make it for them, just to save face with the media.
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Totally agree Anon – another example of how the media can take something and turn it into whatever they please.
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I think all teams should be flown economy. If they want to pay for premium economy or business class then they can pay for the upgrade themselves or ask one of their sponsors to pay for the upgrade. Maybe they could organise a lamington drive!!
They are all of equal importance (I don’t care who brings the medals home).
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Do you seriously think you can squash athletes into a space too small for even an average size person, for 24 + hours, and then expect them to be in peak form and win medals for Australia when they get off the plane? Seriously?
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When I stop having to hold a lamington drive to fund a wheelchair for a child, then I reckon then can all fly business class…
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I agree that you shouldn’t have to hold a lamington drive to buy a kid a wheelchair, but I don’t see that it has much relevance to the discussion. http://finallyfeminism101.wordpress.com/2007/04/12/faq-why-are-you-concentrating-on-x-when-y-is-so-much-more-important/
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The teams, regardless of where they have flown in from, generally arrive some time before the games commence. This allows the individuals to rest and recover from the flight and acclimatise to the local conditions.
It’s not as if any of them arrive an hour or two before having to perform.
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I prayed the answer wouldn’t be Australia, but it was.
I have had such a week of realising that sexism is alive and well and flourishing in Australia.
On a side note, I am wondering whether or not we are promoting it here. Free speech, sure, but I am wondering at the mentality and purpose of certain contributors (particularly the one on the Bettina Ardnt story yesterday who kept changing his name in order to put the same story across and I see it is there again today under a different name) and the ones who say “oh sure you would think it was ok if the situation was reversed”.
Reversing an inequal situation is still sexism. I have been involved in thinking as a feminist and trying to live an equal life for many years now and the same old arguments are still coming up.
We are arguing for equality, equality will not be gained by females assuming male roles and privileges, but by a rethink of how everybody does things.
And if one athlete travels business class, they all should, even the 4’11” tall gymnasts!
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first world feminism in full flight, calling sexism when both the mens and womens team get the same budget and made the decisions themselves on how to spend it. Can we stop calling sexism on stupid issues like these. The women flew Premium Economy, which is twice the price of standard economy anyway, with equal leg room to business. Sheesh, whingers or what.
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That is true, anonymous. It is a problem of the privileged and it is, to a degree not a real problem. However, it is part of the wider discussion, isn’t it? If people perceive lack of fairness based on what sex you are, then that is valid, I think.
It does seem petty to discuss this when there are women in our own country and in the world who undergo horrific ordeals and live awful lives because they are women, and are still perceived as second class citizens.
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But they chose to fly it! Both teams were given a budget and told to do as they saw fit. Boomers chose business, Opals went premium economy. Does that make their choices sexist?
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I wonder what sort of overall budget they were working to. Do the men get more sponsorship and therefore have more money generally? If so, they might be happy to spend it on travel. Or, they might have fewer travel needs and therefore spend more per flight while the women need to make their money go further. Does anyone know?
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Why should anyone’s valid opinion not be valid because you don’t like the truth?
Tell us that you would be up in arms if females were traveling business and men premium economy? It seems to me that you should be wondering about your own sexism if you would treat men and females differently. Since male privilege has been the statement of females for 50 years are you saying that is now crap?
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Would you say it is a lack of fairness based on what sex you are that females have a choice to be a parent or not but a man has no choice and also must abide by the female’s choice alone? Or is this completely fair?
If it’s not fair then what are you doing about it?
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When I reach mad scientist status (you know the dr Frankenstein type) and can insert female reproductive organs into men, then they will have equity. As long as women have the ability also to produce sperm. This is what I’ll do about this particular unfairness….
I’ll let you know when I reach this lofty goal.
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Nah. You don’t need to do that. All you need to do is give men a choice. So when a pregnancy deveops he can say I don’t want to be a father so if you do then you’re on your own. Females have kids through artificaial insemination with no father about. So it’s not like it’s any different to the female.But females want to be paid for sex but they can’t get paid for sex if they are artificially inseminated.
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Lets be realistic, they are not going to refit commercial planes to create equlity in seating for all athletes. Male basketballers are the tallest athletes on the team, taller than there female counterparts. The girls were in premium economy with extra legroom. Why must everything become a grand sexist conspiracy. Lets keep some perspective here shall we. I am sure many male olympians went economy rather than the premium economy the girls enjoyed.
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183cm is taller than 203cm? That must be some kind of new maths.
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It is easy to point out the tallest female vs the shortest male isnt it lulu. Ever heard of an average?
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I don’t think you are being consistent with your argument Wounded Bull. If it’s about height then make it about height, not about gender. Over 185cm to one call, under to another, or similar rule of thumb.
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Fair enough, I assume they felt that the teams should be together. Just seems to be a moutain out of a mole hill to me.
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Actually I think i agree with you re the molehill WB. I don’t like the inequity much but I can’t get too upset that athletes don’t get to ride in first class as they zoom across the world to a sporting event. Not a big deal really.
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I doubt you would be saying the same thing if the situation was reversed, Wounded Bull.
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I would not be getting my knickers in a twist if it eas reversed, but I would struggle with the logic, given that the men are (on average) much taller and broader.
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I doubt that females would be whinging if it were the reverse too
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But surely they could just go on separate flights, no?
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How many flights do you think it would take to get the entire olympic team across business class Lucy?
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You’re absolutely right. With only one flight a day – that would take weeks.
Oh wait.
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We were recently at the institute of sport and saw the men’s (olympic) volleyball players practicing. There was one guy who was over 203cm tall and the other team members were all very tall. As tall as the basketball team.
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It’s pretty much unacceptable. Our society is still so sexist, we still don’t question it. Women’s sport and the way it is treated by the mainstream media remains a minefield.
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if there was something as blatantly racist as this is sexist, there would (quite rightly) be an uproar.
It shocks me that in 2012 we still have to fight these basic battles. Disgraceful.
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Exactly! Can you imagine if they sat the white people at the front and the black people at the back. That used to happen and everyone thought it was ‘normal’. I’m sure alot of people back then were derided by others for ‘making a mountain out of a molehill’. Sound familiar?
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Nice selective editing, News. From the Basketball Australia webpage, the media release says:
The policy around budgets for each national team gives the leadership group of those teams some discretion over how their funds are spent – and that includes travel arrangements.
“We should bear in mind that in fact, historically, more funding has been directed towards the Opals.
“But the simple fact is when a policy results in gender inequality, it’s very clearly not the right policy going forward.
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What’s with all these nasty sarcastic comments lately. Clearly the mamamia site has caught the attention of some group of people out there with a point to prove.
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What point might that be? That all people should be treated equally?
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I’m not quite sure, the comments I’m referring to are so sarcastic and condescending .. and often of little relevance to the article.. that even if they had a valid point it gets lost in all the nastiness.
No point commenting on something if you’re going to act like an asshole about it, then you just sound like an asshole. Unless your intention is to just be nasty and inflammatory.
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Trolls can’t be avoided forever unfortunately
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Especially ones who treat people equally. Have a look at the disgusting notions put by females that men are oppressing females when it was all the females choice and men had nothing to do with it. Since females have been screaming to be treated equally for 50 years that’s exactly what I do. Then you whinge. What’s with that?
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There was commentary this morning saying each team had their own budget (same amount apparently) and the teams each decide how to spend it.
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Im sorry, but there are only so many seats in business class and with the high traffic heading to london at the moment, im affraid someone has to miss out!
Seriously – mountain out of a mole hill !
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And there’s no high demand for economy class seats?
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Because they’d be booking right at the last minute wouldn’t they. Your argument is poor in my opinion LaurenK. These seats would have been booked a very long time ago.
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I just don’t even understand how this issue would even arise. >< Why would anyone think it would be okay to put the men's team in business and not the female's team?!?
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I’m holding off until we get the full story. I can think of a few possible reasons for the difference.
1. Maybe the Boomers were flying a longer distance, or with less recovery time between games.
2. The teams have their own leadership teams, perhaps the Opals decided not to spend their money this way.
3. Maybe the Boomers paid for their upgrade as individuals out of their private funds.
I’ll also add here that while Cambage is 200cm tall, the average height of the male team is 200cm and the female is 183cm.
However, if the circumstances for each team was the same, this is disgusting and Cambage better get her self-funded upgrade paid for pronto!
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“3. Maybe the Boomers paid for their upgrade as individuals out of their private funds.”
That’s definitely not the case.
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I think you’re close to right on one of these options, a lot of the Boomers players were already playing in competitions in Europe, US etc, so would already have sat through a flight home to Australia, to then fly to UK with the team – and I imagine they thought the money spent on Business Class money well spent! Opals had that option but perhaps didn’t have as many players coming in from as many different leagues around the world?
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I’ve read that the Boomers have it in their contracts that they fly business to competitions. The Opals don’t have this sort of agreement… I think it’s unfair that female athletes are relegated to economy whilst male athletes enjoy business, but I do think it’s more a money thing than discrimination.
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I did a bit more research when I read this yesterday and understood that each team was given a budget and that the team managers decided how to spend it. Is this not the actual case? I was so shocked when I read the story, I thought there must be an explanation, but maybe not…
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I think it’s probably a safe assumption that the female teams budget is probably less than the males so that may be why they travel in different classes
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I think it’s probably a safe assumption that the female teams budget is probably more than the males as in everything else but they spent their money on looking as good as they can like hair and nails etc.
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Are you SERIOUS?
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Just as serious as MissV
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I don’t think it’s ever safe to make a judgement/ come to a conclusion on an assumption
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Just read they have the same budgets. If that’s the case then maybe the Opals need to discuss it with their head manager.
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‘Now that this sexist policy has been reported by the media we will make sure to fix it’ – I am gobsmacked this is happening in 2012 and why the hell have the Opals never protested publicly??
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They didn’t protest because it was their decision.
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I was so appalled when I saw this in twitter last night. Absolutely disgusting. Height and size are a major consideration my arse. As you quite rightly point out, both teams have very tall players.
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“We did some research – Liz Cambage, who is on the women’s team, is 6 ft 7″
Or as The Age said this morning: Liz* is 203cm; Patrick Mills (also on the men’s team) is 183cm.
(*She upgraded to business using her own money, BTW)
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Another act of sexism against women in sport. Disgraceful.
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