Melbourne: Australia’s basketball governing body will review its travel policy after being criticised for flying their men’s team to the London Olympics in business class but putting their women’s team in economy class.
The different travel arrangements were slammed by Australian media and politicians called for the teams to receive equal treatment, while other Asian nations have also found some of their Olympic arrangements branded sexist.
“We should bear in mind that in fact, historically, more funding has been directed towards the Opals,” Basketball Australia’s acting chief executive, Scott Derwin, said in a statement, referring to the women’s team.
“But the simple fact is when a policy results in gender inequality, it’s very clearly not the right policy going forward.
“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.
“Part of this review will include consultations with the Opals, the Boomers, and the Australian Olympic Committee.”
Australia’s women’s basketball team have won silver at the past three Olympics, while their male counterparts — the Boomers — have never won a medal.
The criticism came in the wake of a controversy over travel arrangements for Japan’s football Olympians, whose world champion women also flew to London in more basic conditions than the less successful men’s team.
