We are all aware of the recent fiasco during a Dhaka Premier League (DPL) match when two veteran cricket teams, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Prime Bank Cricket Club, reportedly expressed dissatisfaction over the appointment of an on-field female umpire to officiate their match. Though initially it was thought to be a gender issue, both the clubs later clarified that it was not due to the gender, but rather the experience of the umpire that they were concerned with. Nonetheless, this incident once again brought to the fore the issue of gender in our sports scene, and gender disparity that so perversely prevails here. From pay disparity to a concerning lack of gender diversity in leadership roles in various sporting bodies, women have a long way to go to secure equity in Bangladesh’s sports arena.
Traditionally, sports have been seen as the men’s forte. Unfortunately, despite courageous women breaking the glass ceiling over the last few decades and emerging successful in sports—be it in kabaddi, football, chess, judo or cricket, to name a few—the biased perception about women being unfit for sports has remained ingrained in our collective memory. As a result, we as a people have been unable to appreciate women’s sports or their achievements.
How many of us have taken the time to watch a women’s cricket match with as much enthusiasm as we do when the Tigers take the field? How many of us can name the country’s first woman international master in chess? For those who do not know, Rani Hamid became Bangladesh’s first woman international master in 1985. How many of us remember Sabina Khatun? She was the captain of the women’s football team that won the nation the maiden South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Women’s Championship title in 2022.
Most of us might not have even heard of Shathira Jakir Jessy—the first female umpire to officiate a DPL match, and also one of the four Bangladeshi female umpires in the ICC development panel of umpires—had it not been for the controversy surrounding her appointment.
The bias against women in sports is a systemic one and has always been in the system. Let’s take the pay disparity, for instance. Up until June last year, an A grade female cricket player would get paid Tk 50,000, in comparison to the Tk 4 lakh that her male counterpart would get; the pay discrepancy was about one-eighth. The match fee for a female cricketer would be less than Tk 9,000, whereas a male cricketer would get paid a decent Tk 3 lakh. Even with a pay hike up to Tk 100,000 ceiling that was given in June 2023, this amount is insignificant compared to the salary of a male player of the same grade.
In football, the scenario has improved a little since last year, when the women football players—after numerous protests—got Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) to agree to a pay raise. Women have been getting “token wage” from the BFF for some years now, and in 2023 it had to agree to pay them increased wages with the Pool A players making Tk 50,000 each, and Pool C players allowed between Tk 15,000 and Tk 20,000 each. Still compared to the male players of the national football team—who do not get wages from the BFF, but rather allowances during training camps and are also handsomely remunerated by the clubs, make around Tk 50-60 lakh per year, according to media reports—the amount is paltry. Since there are no organised leagues for women’s football in our country, the BFF wage increment at least gives some respite to the players.
The lack of parity is also evident in the leadership teams of the various bodies governing different sports. Take, for instance, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). In the Standing Committee list published on the BCB website, one would not find a single woman in any of the committees. Even the Women’s Wing Committee consists of all male members. Isn’t there a single woman in the cricket scene who can fill in the position of the member, if not the chairperson or vice-chair in the Women’s Wing Committee? At least in the BFF, we have Mahfuza Akhter Kiron, the deputy chairman of BFF Women’s Wing.
Having gender diversity in sports leadership not only helps in developing ecosystems that are conducive to the growth of female talents, but the different perspectives and worldviews that women bring to the table can play a pivotal role in driving transformations, if leveraged properly. The corporates are reaping the benefits of having diverse leadership teams—and not confined to gender diversity alone; our sporting bodies would be wiser to learn from them.
Having said all this, the fact remains that in Bangladesh, we have a long way to go in encouraging, promoting and creating a conducive ecosystem for the inclusion of more women in sports. We inherently hold on to this anachronistic idea that women are not fit for sports; as a result, the sports development bodies do not invest the required time, energy and money to nurture female talents. There is a lot that can be done to create an environment that supports their growth and that would encourage more female talents to take up sports as a profession.
With the world evolving fast, it is important that we come out of our comfort zones and challenge our own thought process to let positive change flow in. For one, we could take an interest in women’s sports and support in creating an environment that accelerates their inclusion and growth in this as much as in other areas.