A two-pronged approach: utilising sports governing bodies’ statutes and equal treatment legislation to achieve equality of treatment in women’s football

Abstract Women’s football is currently growing at an exponential rate in terms of participation, viewing, engagement and commercialisation. More people than ever before are involved in women’s football, whether it be from watching, to buying merchandise or investing. However, in spite of this growth, female athletes are consistently subjected to subpar treatment when compared with that of their male counterparts. This inequality includes adequate pre-tournament and match preparation, access to medical treatment and appropriate research, professional training facilities, broadcasting and refereeing standard and professional coaching staff. Thus, this lack of equality is not confined to one area and includes all aspects of professional sport. In order to achieve parity in terms of treatment, female athletes can employ a two-pronged approach. The first is to utilise the regulatory frameworks of FIFA and the International Olympic Committee which guarantee protection and respect for human rights, as well as protection from discrimination on the basis of gender. By evoking the dispute resolution mechanisms of the governing bodies and indeed the Court of Arbitration for Sport, athletes can seek remedy for these inequalities by virtue of the fact FIFA are breaching their own statutes. Should this approach not provide appropriate redress, athletes can employ a strictly legal method by relying on domestic equal treatment legislation, whether in the EU or beyond, in order to achieve equal treatment in employment by virtue of a reliance on domestic laws and legal systems.