
"What would it take to embed gender equality in the return of sport, rather than entrench the under-investment and the institutionalised neglect that women have suffered for the last 100 years?" former Matilda's player Moya Dodd asked on Monday night's episode of Q&A.
It's a question more of us should be asking. Why has the return of women's professional sport been so much slower compared to their male counterparts?
Not only that, but coverage of professional women's sport - compared to men's sport - has been minimal amid the coronavirus pandemic.
"It's just dropped completely off the agenda," sports broadcaster Tracey Holmes said on Q&A.
“All the sports programming and sports bulletins and results once again have gone back to five, six, seven years ago – it’s men, men, men, men, men.”
Has women’s sport lost momentum due to COVID-19? What would it take to embed gender equality in sport’s recovery? #QandA pic.twitter.com/BasKDAS8K8
— QandA (@QandA) June 15, 2020
No doubt, the shutdown is proving to be more painful for women's sport.
A recent survey by Siren Sport found women's sport received a mere 8.4 per cent of all mainstream sports coverage in Australia in April. In May, that dropped even further to 7.6 per cent.
The lack of coverage is acutely apparent in the bid Australia and New Zealand are likely to win for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.
“If it was 10 days out from a men’s World Cup being awarded to Australia and New Zealand, it would be front page, back page, middle page, talk-back radio, it would be everywhere. What have we heard about this women’s World Cup bid?" Holmes added on Q&A. "It’s just disappeared."
In recent weeks, there has been announcements about the return of Suncorp SuperNetball, WNBL, Australian Women's Cricket Team and NRLW. However, none have received remotely the same coverage as the return of professional men's sports, such as the NRL.
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