ALL IN: Towards gender balance in sport (Erasmus +)
PREMS 093419
ENG
The Member States of the European Union have
decided to link together their know-how, resources
and destinies. Together, they have built a zone of
stability, democracy and sustainable development
whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance
and individual freedoms. The European Union is
committed to sharing its achievements and its values
with countries and peoples beyond its borders.
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human rights organisation. It comprises 47 member
states, including all members of the European
Union. All Council of Europe member states have
signed up to the European Convention on Human
Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights,
democracy and the rule of law. The European Court
of Human Rights oversees the implementation
of the Convention in the member states.
www.coe.int
www.coe.int/sport/ALLIN
ALL IN: Towards gender balance in sport (Erasmus +)
ALL IN!
TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE
IN EUROPEAN SPORT
ANALYTICAL REPORT
OF THE DATA COLLECTION CAMPAIGN
ALL IN!
TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN
EUROPEAN SPORT
ANALYTICAL REPORT
OF THE DATA COLLECTION CAMPAIGN
This report was drafted by Kari Fasting, Dr. Professor
Emerita, Norwegian School of sport sciences
Council of Europe
All requests concerning the reproduction
or translation of all or part of the
document should be addressed to the
Directorate of Communication (F-67075
Strasbourg Cedex or publishing@coe.
int). All other correspondence concerning
this publication should be addressed to
the Directorate General of Democracy,
Enlarged Partial Agreement (EPAS).
Cover design and layout: Documents
and Publications Production Department
(SPDP), Council of Europe
Image credits : Shutterstock
© Council of Europe, August 2019
Printed at the Council of Europe.
CONTENT
1. SUMMARY OF THE MAIN RESULTS 7
1.1 Introduction 7
1.2 Methodology 7
1.3 Main results 8
1.4 Conclusion 12
2. GENDER EQUALITY IN SPORT IN THE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES 15
2.1 Gender equality in leadership 15
2.2 Gender equality in coaching 16
2.3 Gender equality in participation 17
2.4 Preventing gender-based violence in sport 19
2.5 Gender equality in media/communications 20
2.6 Policies and programmes to address gender equality in sport 21
2.7 Conclusion 23
3. GENDER EQUALITY IN AND BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT SPORTS 25
3.1 Gender equality in leadership in the dierent sports 25
3.2 Gender equality in coaching by sport 27
3.3 Gender equality in participation in the dierent sports 28
3.4 The prevention of gender-based violence in the dierent sports 29
3.5 Gender equality in media/communications in the dierent sports 31
3.6 Policies and programmes to address gender equality by sport 31
3.7 Conclusion 33
Page 7
1. SUMMARY OF THE MAIN RESULTS
1. www.coe.int/sport/ALLIN
2. To have an overview of all the data collected, have a look at the dynamic databases created within the framework of the ALL IN project
(www.coe.int/sport/ALLIN - section on the data collection campaign)
3. Except for Belgium where only one Olympic sport federation is national. The rest are community-based.
4. International Boxing Association (AIBA), International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), International Equestrian Federation
(FEI), International Fencing Association (FIE), International Weightlifting Federation (IWF), International Basketball Federation (FIBA),
International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF), International Canoe Federation (ICF), International Association Football
Federation (FIFA), International Golf Federation (IGF), International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), International Handball Federation (IHF),
International Hockey Federation (FIH), International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), International Judo Federation (IJF), International Luge
Federation (FIL), International Swimming Federation (FINA), International Ski Federation (FIS), World Rowing (FISA), International Tennis
Federation (ITF), International Table Tennis (ITTF), International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF), International Volleyball Federation
(FIVB), Badminton World Federation (BWF), World Curling Federation (WCF), World Taekwondo (WT), World Sailing (WS), Union Cycliste
Internationale (UCI), International Biathlon Union (IBU), International Skating Union (ISU), International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM),
International Triathlon Union (ITU), United World Wrestling (UWW), World Archery Federation (WA), World Rugby (WR).
5. Data was collated on 31 December 2018, except the area of participation in sport, which was collated on 31 December 2017.
6. Due to the low response rate, the data from Montenegro and Bulgaria are not included in this report.
1.1 Introduction
“ALL IN: Towards gender balance in sport
1
”is a European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (COE) joint project
(1March 2018 - 31 October 2019). Its aim is to provide support to public authorities and sport organisations when
designing and implementing policies and programmes to address gender inequalities in sport and when adopting
a gender mainstreaming strategy. A part of this project is to collect data on gender equality in sport on leadership,
coaching, participation, media /communication and gender-based violence, so that progress can be monitored,
and comparisons made between countries and between sports, which will aid in the design of evidence-based
policies. The results in this report present the main ndings of the data collected
2
.
1.2 Methodology
Eighteen countries were involved in the project: Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Georgia, Israel, Lithuania, Montenegro, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia and
Spain. Survey questions were submitted to the National Olympic Committees (NOCs), the ministries/government
departments responsible for sport and the national sport federations
3
aliated to the 35 international federations
recognised by the International Olympic Committee, and for which the discipline was included in the programme of the
last Olympic Games (2016/2018).
4
In some countries, there are not 35 federations (sometimes less, sometimes more).
Each country appointed a national co-ordinator who was responsible for carrying out the survey. The online
questionnaire was sent through the software program Eval&Go. The data gathering took place from March
to May of 2019.
5
Table 1 gives an overview of the total number of respondents in each country.
6
The project
had a very high response rate, 85%, and it can, therefore, be concluded that the study is representative for the
participating countries. For some: Albania; Croatia; France; Georgia; and Lithuania, the response rate was 100%.
The participants answered most of the questions, although several federations did not answer the questions about
their membership. Still, the response rate, compared to other academic studies, is very high. This, therefore, makes
the study highly representative and valid.
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Table 1. Response rates to the online questionnaire
Country
Number of respondents
who completed the
questionnaire
Total number of
organisations that received
the questionnaire
Response
rate (%)
Lithuania 36 36 100
Georgia 34 34 100
France 33 33 100
Albania 24 24 100
Croatia 37 37 100
Belgium (Flanders) 34 35 97
Netherlands 29 30 97
Portugal 30 31 97
Azerbaijan 27 28 96
Belgium (Wallonia-
Brussels Federation)
29 31 94
Czech Republic 39 43 91
Finland 31 34 91
Israel 29 32 91
Spain 29 32 91
Austria 30 37 81
Serbia 24 40 60
Denmark 19 34 56
Bulgaria 10 29 35
Montenegro 2 16 13
Total 526 616
Overall response rate (%) 85
1.3 Main results
In this section, the key data from the study on gender equality in sport is summarized in tables 2 to 7. Thereafter,
some of the main ndings related to the analysis of the dierences between the countries and the sport federations
are commented on.
Page 9
1.3.1 KEY DATA ON GENDER EQUALITY IN SPORT
Table 2. Percentage of women in decision-making positions in the national governing bodies of sport
(Olympic sport federations and national Olympic committees)
Female presidents
Female
vice-presidents
Female board
members
% n % n % n
Olympic sport federations 7 35 18 171 22 1118
National Olympic Committees 19 3 29 15 22 64
Table 2 shows that women are under-represented in decision-making positions both in the Olympic sport
federations and the NOCs. The percentage of female presidents is particularly low. It is somewhat higher among the
NOCs (19%) than among the Olympic sport federations (7%). The percentage of female vice-presidents is higher,
29% in the Olympic Committees, compared with 18% in the Olympic sport federations. For both organisations,
22% of the board members are women. The same proportion of females is found among the employed elite level
coaches (22%) as illustrated in Table 3.
Table 3. Percentage of female elite level coaches employed by federations
% n
Female elite level coaches (employed by federations) 22 801
Another major nding is that 31 % of all members of a sport club are women and that the dierence between
girls (under 18 years of age) and adult women (18 years and above) (Table 4) is very small.
Table 4. Percentage of female members of the Olympic sport federations
% n
Under 18 years of age 32 2680966
18 years and older 30 2692522
All 31 5373488
Table 5 shows the percentages of actions/measures implemented to address gender equality in sport, for
the dierent topics surveyed in the project. All three institutions/organisations have given a high priority to
implementing programs to increase the membership of girls and women (57% of sport federations, 75% of NOCs
and 79% of ministries/government departments responsible for sport).
The topic which has had the fewest measures implemented is ‘to prevent and combat gender-based violence’.
Only 29% of the Olympic sport federations have addressed this, while 36% of the ministries or government
departments responsible for sport and 44% of the national Olympic committees have taken action in this area.
The highest area of concern is for participation in elite sport. 86 % of the ministries and government departments
have implemented measures to improve the situation for female elite level athletes. Surprisingly only 44% of the
NOCs have done the same.
Page 10 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
Table 5. Percentage of Olympic sport federations, National Olympic Committees and ministries/
government departments responsible for sport that have implemented actions/measures to address
gender equality in sport, with a breakdown by topic
Olympic sport
federations
National Olympic
Committees
Ministries/government
departments
responsible for sport
% n % n % n
Leadership 53 247 50 8 50 7
Coaching 38 185 63 10 36 5
Participation (grassroots sport) 57 276 75 12 79 11
Participation (elite sport) 41 199 44 7 86 12
Gender-based violence 29 138 44 7 36 5
Table 6 presents how many of the participants have an action plan for advancing towards equality between females
and males in sport. Almost 2/3 (63%) of the NOCs, 43% of the ministries/national sport authorities, and only 29%
of the Olympic sport federations have such a plan.
Table 6. Percentage of Olympic sport federations, National Olympic Committees and ministries/government
departments responsible for sport that have developed an action plan to address gender equality in sport
7
Olympic sport
federations
National Olympic
Committees
Ministries/government
departments
responsible for sport
% n % n % n
Gender equality action plan 22 106 63 10 43 6
The two major strategies which aim towards gender equality in sport are armative action
8
and gender
mainstreaming
9
. Table 7 presents the percentages of the Olympic sport federations, the NOCs and the ministries/
government departments responsible for sport that have used these approaches. Beyond the fact that rather
few organisations use these techniques, there are large dierences among them. The highest percentage in the
table is found among the ministries and the national sport authorities, where 57% have incorporated a gender
mainstreaming strategy. The lowest percentage is found among the national Olympic committees where only
13% have used armative action.
Table 7. Percentage of Olympic sport federations, National Olympic Committees and ministries/
government departments responsible for sport that have implemented armative action and gender
mainstreaming strategies
Olympic sport
federations
National Olympic
Committees
Ministries/government
departments
responsible for sport
% n % n % n
Armative action 17 79 13 2 21 3
Gender mainstreaming strategies 17 82 25 4 57 8
7. All 16 National Olympic Committees participated in this study. Among the ministries/government departments responsible for sport
representatives from Austria and Denmark are missing.
8. Armative action was dened as follows in the questionnaire: actions taken which aim at making up for past discrimination and inequality
by favouring members of a certain gender. Armative action is one way to give disadvantaged groups substantive equality. Examples
of armative actions: quota regulations; not having to pay for a training course; etc.
9. Gender mainstreaming was dened as follows in the questionnaire: gender mainstreaming means integrating a gender equality
perspective at all stages and levels of policies, programmes and projects. Women and men have dierent needs and living conditions
and circumstances. The aim of gender mainstreaming is to take into account these dierences when designing, implementing and
evaluating policies, programmes and projects, so that they benet both women and men and do not increase inequality but enhance
gender inequality.
Page 11
1.3.2. MAIN FINDINGS
Dierent conclusions can be drawn from this study. Not surprisingly, there is huge diversity between both the
countries and the sports with respect to gender equality, independently of which of the six areas of inequality
are analysed. Another conclusion is that men dominate in all areas (except for membership) in some of the most
popular sports for women, such as, equestrian, gymnastics, skating, swimming and volleyball. Even these sports
have relatively few female coaches and few women in leadership positions. The glass ceiling or glass cli still
seems to exist in sport. As just shown only 7 % of the presidents, 18% of the vice-presidents and 22 % of all board
members in the sport federations are women.
Leadership and coaching
Studies have shown that a gender balance in board compositions and the chance of inuencing decisions is
achieved when each gender has a minimum presence of 40%
10
. None of the countries have reached this minimum
goal, but France, with 37% female board members, is closest. If we look at the dierent sports, only gymnastics
(52%) and skating (51%) has a gender balance in the composition of their boards.
In a requested proposal for a plan of strategic action on gender equality in sport from 2014-2020, by the European
Commission, a target of a minimum of 40% of women and men on executive boards and committees of national
sport governing bodies was put forward as an objective
11
. The same plan suggested a minimum of 40% women
and men as volunteer and employed coaches by 2020. In the countries participating in this study, the gures are
22% for female employed coaches for national teams and/or elite level athletes, with Lithuania (36%) and Czech
Republic having the highest proportion of female coaches.
Participation - membership of a sport club
More men than women are members of a sport club or federation and women are not members of as many dierent
sport clubs as men. Females dominate traditional women’s sports like equestrian (84%), gymnastics (81%), skating
(60%), volleyball (59%) and swimming (52%). Almost 3/4 of the sport federations have fewer than 40% of female
members. Austria has almost as many women (46%) as men in membership of a sport club, whereas in Georgia
the female membership in sport clubs is only 11%.
Preventing gender-based violence in sport
Studies have shown that gender-based violence seems to occur in all sports and at all levels of sport
12
. A number
of national and international organisations have developed recommendations and resolutions for addressing the
problem. In 2006, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) adopted its rst position statement on the prevention
of sexual harassment and abuse. Since then, the IOC has developed another position statement
13
, a toolkit and
special guidelines for the international sport federations and for the NOCs in this area.
In all the IOC position statements and guidelines there is a focus on the importance of developing policies and
action plans for the prevention and safeguarding of people involved in sport. In this study, three countries (Croatia,
Czech Republic and Denmark) had no federations with such a policy. Only 25% of all the sport federations have
such a plan, but 64% in Finland and 57% in Austria have developed a policy in this area. 62% of the Football
federations have a policy and/or action plan, while taekwondo is the only sport where no federation has a policy
for preventing and combating gender-based violence. Among the 14 ministries/national sport authorities there
are three countries (Serbia, Portugal and France) and among the 16 NOCs there are ve (Netherlands, Georgia,
Finland, Czech Republic and Austria) that have programs for the prevention of gender-based violence in sport.
In Belgium (Flanders) and Israel, both the NOC and the ministry/national authority for sport have a written policy
and/or action plan on preventing and combating gender-based violence in sport.
10. Adriaanse, J. A. (2018). Europe in world perspective: The Sydney Scoreboard Global Index for women in sport leadership. InGender
Diversity in European Sport Governance(pp. 11-19). Routledge.
11. European Commission (EC).2014. Gender Equality in Sport. Proposal for Strategic Actions 2014-2020.
12. Fasting, K. (2017). Gender, Sexual Harassment and Abuse in Sport. In G. Sobich & S. Günter (eds.), Sport & Gender: (Inter)Nationale
sportsoziologische Geschlecter-forschung, Theoretische Ansätze, Praktiken und Perspektiven (pp. 167-179). Wisbaden: Springer.
13. Mountjoy, M., Brackenridge, C., Arrington, M., Blauwet, C., Carska-Sheppard, A., Fasting, K., & Starr, K. (2016). International Olympic
Committee consensus statement: harassment and abuse (non-accidental violence) in sport.Br J Sports Med,50(17), 1019-1029.
Page 12 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
Communication guidelines
Few federations (19%) have portrayal guidelines for gender-balanced representation in the content of
communications materials, but there are large dierences between the countries (France 77% and none in Lithuania).
Policies and programmes to address gender equality in sport
In the requested proposal for a plan of strategic action on gender equality in sport from 2014-2020 (EC 2014) and
the follow up by an expert group on good governance (EC 2016), the importance of developing and implementing
a national plan on gender equality in sport was emphasized
14
. Twelve of the 16 countries participating in our study
seem to have developed this, either by the NOC only (Croatia, Albania, Austria, Lithuania and Netherlands) or
the ministry/national authority for sport (Portugal and Belgium (Flanders)), or by both the NOC and the ministry
(Finland, France, Georgia, and Israel). Looking at the dierent countries, 74% of the sport federations in France and
68% in Finland have a gender equality plan. For all the other countries, it is 33% or less. Among the sports, 54% of
the football federations have a gender equality plan. For all the other sports, it is less than 40%.
Armative action and/or a gender mainstreaming strategy is not used very often by the federations in their work
towards gender equality. For both of these techniques, only 17 % of the sport federations have used them. Yet,
48% of the federations in France have used armative action, and 39% have incorporated a gender mainstreaming
strategy. Among the sports, basketball is the sport with the highest number of federations that have used both
armative action (27%) and a gender mainstreaming strategy (47%).
Actions/measures implemented to address gender equality
Another major nding from the study is that many sport federations have implemented measures to reach gender
equality. Most actions have been taken with respect to participation in sport (57% of all sport federations) and
improving the number of women in decision-making position (53%), followed by increasing the number of
women in coaching (38%). As shown above, only 29% of the sport federations have worked to combat and prevent
gender-based violence in sport.
To recruit or increase the number of women in decision-making positions in sport, half of the tools used related
to the development of “transparent, clear and gender-friendly election or appointment procedures,” whereas
“mentoring programmes for (future) females in decision-making positions” is mentioned by only 7%. To recruit or
increase the number of female coaches it is the same tool as for leadership - “Transparent, clear and gender-friendly
recruitment procedures” that is most often mentioned. Nearly half of the federations mentioned this. Only 11%
reported that they had initiated and/or supported research/studies on gender equality in coaching.
To increase the number of women active in physical activity and sport, the largest group (55%) mentioned “equal
access to sport facilities for girls/women and boys/men”, whereas only 12% mentioned the support of studies on
gender equality in participation.
The last group of actions that have been implemented concern the protection and prevention of gender-based
violence. By far the largest group of measures taken here (63%) related to “codes of conduct and ethical guidelines
for coaches and people in managerial and decision-making positions,” whereas the smallest group mentioned
“provision of safe (public) transport services to and from venues for sport and physical activity” – only 9 %.
1.4 Conclusion
Below we list the three countries with the highest score in some of the dierent gender equality indicators measured
in this study. Table 8 lists the top three countries in several of the following tables and gures. This may give the
reader an overview of the leading countries in each area.
Finland and France are mentioned 6 times each, Spain 4 times etc. This indicates that Finland and France are the
two countries which are most advanced with respect to gender equality in sport, as it is measured in this study.
14. European Commission (EC). 2016. «Expert Group on Good Governance: Recommendations on Gender Equality».
Page 13
Table 8. Countries with the three highest score (percentages) on each of the gender equality indicators
among the sport federations
1 2 3
Female presidents (Table 9) Finland and Serbia Georgia
Female vice-presidents (Table 9) Finland France Denmark
Female Board members (Table 9) France Finland Israel
Employed elite level female coaches (Figure 2) Lithuania Czech Republic Georgia
Female membership in a sport club (Table 10) Austria Lithuania Belgium
Gender-based violence policy and/
or action plan (Table 12)
Finland Spain Austria
Portrayal gender balanced representation
in communication (Figure 5)
France Spain Azerbaijan
Gender equality action plan (Table 13) France Finland
Israel and
Portugal
Used armative actions (Table 14.A) France Israel and Spain
Used gender-mainstreaming strategy (Table 14.B) France Spain Finland
We have also made the same analysis for the dierent sports. Only one sport is mentioned more often than twice,
football, which is mentioned four times and on three occasions as number one. Based on the same logic as above,
we therefore conclude that football is the sport that seems to be most advanced with respect to gender equality
in sport, as it is measured in this study.
Though there are large dierences with respect to gender equality among the countries and among the dierent
sports, men are still governing sport and there are very few female presidents in the national Olympic sport
federations. The number of female board members is also far from being gender balanced. This is in spite of all the
projects and initiatives that have taken place during the last 10-20 years to increase the involvement of women
in sport
15
.
This indicates that the methods used to increase the number of women in decision-making positions and in
coaching, may not have had a large impact. It may not have led to a change in the male culture of sport, which is
probably a prerequisite for recruiting larger groups of women. Few have developed a gender equality plan specic
for sport and few organisations have used armative action and gender mainstreaming strategies. These three
indicators could, in the future, lead to a change in the culture of sport, so that it becomes more female friendly.
15. Fasting, K., Pike, E., Sand, T., & Matthews, J. (2014). From Brighton to Helsinki. International Working Group (IWG) Women and Sport
Progress Report 1994-2014 and Fasting, K., Pike, E., Matthews, J., & Sand, T. S. (2018). From Helsinki to Gaborone: IWG Women and Sport
Progress Report 2013-2018.
Page 15
2. GENDER EQUALITY IN SPORT IN THE DIFFERENT
COUNTRIES
2.1 Gender equality in leadership
Table 9 presents the percentages of women in leadership roles in the national sport federations in each country - as
presidents, vice-presidents or board members.
Table 9. Female leadership positions in the sport federations by country
Female presidents Female vice-presidents Female board members
Country % n % n % n
Albania 0 0 14 2 11 17
Austria 10 3 16 15 16 46
Azerbaijan 4 1 5 3 15 32
Belgium 7 4 25 15 23 134
Croatia 11 4 2 1 8 28
Czech Republic 8 3 9 5 14 44
Denmark 6 1 35 7 21 28
Finland 14 4 40 17 29 74
France 3 1 36 48 37 312
Georgia 13 4 9 7 17 57
Israel 4 1 25 9 28 98
Lithuania 6 2 11 6 17 51
Netherlands 8 2 20 4 24 39
Portugal 4 1 16 18 14 29
Serbia 14 3 14 4 19 36
Spain 4 1 13 10 25 93
Total 7 37 18 171 22 1118
Women are under-represented in the most powerful positions in the sport federations. The number of female
presidents is very low, varying from zero to 14%. One country (Albania) has none and six countries have only one
female president in all of their sport federations (Azerbaijan, Denmark, France, Israel, Portugal and Spain). Finland
and Serbia have the highest proportion of female presidents, but they account for only 14%. The number of
female vice-presidents is higher than for presidents. Finland has the highest percentage of female vice-presidents
(40%), followed by France (36%) and Denmark (35%). Croatia has the lowest number of female vice-presidents
(2%), followed by Azerbaijan (5%), and Czech Republic and Georgia, where 9% of the vice presidents in the sport
federations are women. As one moves lower in the hierarchal system of leadership, the number of women slightly
increases - from 7% (presidents), to 18% (vice-presidents) and then to 22 % female board members. The countries
with fewest women on the boards of the sport federations are Croatia (8%) and Albania (11%). The countries with
the highest number of female board members are France (37%), Finland (29%) and Israel (28%).
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Further analysis reveals that in 13 of the countries there are some sport federations that do not have any female
board members at all. The percentage of sport federations that lack any female board members varies among
these 13 countries, from 4% in Spain to 52% in Azerbaijan. Finland, France and Israel are the three countries in
which all sport federations have at least one female board member.
An analysis of the female leaders in the NOCs reveals that they seem to have been more successful than the national
sport federations in electing female presidents and female vice-presidents. The female presidents in the NOCs
account for 19% and the vice-presidents 29%. The percentage of female board members in the executive boards
of the NOCs is the same as for the national Olympic sport federations (Table 9 - 22%). However, dierences are
more apparent when comparing the boards of the dierent NOCs. Two of the boards of the NOCs have a gender
balanced representation. Women account for 57% of the board members of the NOC in the Netherlands and half
of the board members in Finland.
On average 53% of the sport federations in the countries have, since 2015
16
, attempted to recruit and increase the
women in decision-making bodies (Figure 1). The three countries with the highest proportion of sport federations
that have been most active in this area are Spain (85%), France (84%) and Finland (79%). The sport federations in
the Czech Republic (11%) and Portugal (29%) have done the least to recruit and increase the number of women
in decision-making bodies.
In addition to the eorts of the sport federations, 50% of the ministries and other government departments (n=7)
and half of the NOCs (n=8) have also joined in this endeavour.
ACTION TAKEN AMONG THE SPORT FEDERATIONS IN EACH COUNTRY TO GET MORE WOMEN IN
DECISION-MAKING POSITIONS (%)
1
Spain
France
Finland
Israel
Serbia
Netherlands
Albania
In all
Lithuania
Denmark
Croatia
Belgium
Azerbaijan
Austria
Georgia
Portugal
Czech Republic
85
84
79
56
55
50
50
49
42
40
40
35
29
11
59
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
67
53
2.2 Gender equality in coaching
17
Figure 3 shows the percentage of female coaches employed by the sport federations to work as coaches for the
national teams and/or with elite level athletes (full-time and part-time) in 2018. Only 22% of the employed elite
level coaches in the sport federations are women. This gure reveals that women are under-represented among
elite level employed coaches in all countries. Lithuania (36%) and the Czech Republic (33%) have the highest
percent of employed elite level coaches, while Croatia (13%), Portugal (15%) and Denmark (15%) have the lowest.
16. For all the questions asked about actions taken, the time of reference is «since 2015».
17. The term «coaches» also covers trainers and instructors and was dened as follows in the questionnaire: «coach/trainer/instructor:
person responsible for leading/organising the training for a group of athletes (children, youth and/or athletes)”.
Page 17
40
30
20
10
0
13 15 15 16 19 19 20 21 21 22 22 22 22
25 27
33 36
Croatia
Portugal
Denmark
Serbia
Spain
Netherlands
Azerbaijan
France
Finland
In all
Belgium
Austria
Albania
Israel
Georgia
Czech Republic
Lithuania
EMPLOYED FEMALE ELITE LEVEL COACHES IN THE
SPORT FEDERATIONS IN EACH COUNTRY (%)
2
In all countries, there are some sport federations that have implemented measures to recruit or increase the
number of female coaches. On average 38% of the sport federations have developed projects to recruit and
increase the number of female coaches. As seen in Figure 3 there are large di erences between the countries. In
Israel and Spain, respectively 78% and 74% of the sport federations have implemented programs, whereas it is
only 6% in the Czech Republic and 18% in Belgium. Action has also been undertaken in this area by 33% (n=5) of
the ministries/government departments and 63% (n=10) of the NOCs. In four countries (Finland, France, Georgia,
and Israel) both the ministries/government departments and the NOCs have been active in trying to recruit and
increase the number of female coaches.
SPORT FEDERATIONS THAT HAVE TAKEN ACTION TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF WOMEN COACHES IN
EACH COUNTRY (%)
3
78
74
54
41
41
40
40
38
34
33
32
29
24
18
6
45
47
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Israel
Spain
Finland
Georgia
France
Albania
Serbia
Austria
Azerbaijan
In all
Croatia
Denmark
Portugal
Lithuania
Netherlands
Belgium
Czech Republic
2.3 Gender equality in participation
31% of the members of a sport club or federation are female (as shown in Table 10). There is almost no di erence
between the proportion of membership among girls under 18 years of age and those above 18 years old. The
highest proportion of female members is found in the sport federations in Austria (46%) and Denmark (41%),
both are gender balanced. In Georgia and Serbia , respectively 11% and 14% of all girls and women are members
of a sport club. It is surprising that in Austria more girls (56%) than boys are members of a sport club. The sport
Page 18 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
federations in Denmark (48%) and Spain (44%) are also gender balanced among their members under 18 years
of age. The lowest proportion of girls in sports clubs are found in Georgia (13%) and Serbia (21%). The highest
proportion of adult women that are members of a sport club is found in Austria (42%) and the lowest in Georgia (6%).
Table 10. Percentage of girls (under 18 years) and women (18 years and above) who are members of a
sports club or federation in each country.
Total (all) Girls (under 18) Women (18 years and above)
Country % n % n % n
Austria 46 127200 56 42009 42 85191
Denmark 41 284180 48 136651 36 147529
Lithuania 35 6045 37 4110 30 1935
Belgium 34 581202 33 291526 36 289676
Albania 33 2234 34 1389 31 845
Finland 33 200273 36 91937 30 108336
Netherlands 33 1010782 33 334915 34 675867
Spain 33 372950 44 216785 24 156165
Czech Republic 30 104720 35 60655 26 44065
Portugal 30 156061 31 114876 28 41185
France 29 2423519 29 1314265 28 1109254
Israel 26 20908 29 14832 20 6076
Azerbaijan 21 9195 23 8710 8 485
Croatia 20 42685 23 29806 15 12879
Serbia 14 26509 21 14524 10 11985
Georgia 11 5025 13 3976 6 1049
Total 31 5373488 32 2680966 30 2692522
Tables 11.A and 11.B. Measures implemented by the sport federations to increase the number of girls and
women active in sport and/or physical activity and to improve the situation for female elite level athletes
in each country (%).
11.A Girls and women active in sport and/or
physical activity
11.B Female elite level athletes
Country % n Country % n
France 84 26 Spain 74 20
Spain 82 22 Finland 68 19
Finland 79 22 France 61 19
Denmark 78 14 Austria 53 16
Israel 74 20 Israel 48 13
Portugal 68 19 Albania 41 9
Austria 63 19 Georgia 41 13
Georgia 56 18 Serbia 41 9
Lithuania 56 19 Azerbaijan 40 10
Albania 55 12 Denmark 39 7
Croatia 54 19 Lithuania 38 13
Serbia 50 11 Portugal 36 10
Azerbaijan 44 11 Croatia 31 11
Belgium 37 22 Belgium 29 17
Czech Republic 36 13 Netherlands 28 7
Netherlands 36 9 Czech Republic 17 6
Total 57 276 Total 41 199
Page 19
Tables 11.A and 11.B present both the percentages of measures implemented to increase the number of girls
and women active in sport and/or physical activity in general and the percentages of measures to improve the
situation for female elite level athletes. In total, more eorts have been taken to increase the number of active
females in general (57%), than eorts to improve the situation for female elite level athletes (41%). As many as
84% of the sport federations in France and 82% in Spain have implemented actions to increase the number of girls
and women active in sport and/or physical activity in general. The countries with the fewest sport federations that
have taken action in this area are Netherlands and the Czech Republic (36%). The sport federations in Spain (74%)
and Finland (68%) have been most active in relation to improving the situation for the female elite level athletes.
Azerbaijan and Spain have taken almost the same number of actions for the two groups, whereas Denmark and
Portugal have done much more to increase the number of physically active girls and women.
Many of the ministries and government departments (79%, n=11) and the NOCs (75%, n=12) have implemented
actions to increase the number of girls and women active in sport. Relative to improving the situations for
elite athletes, 12 (86%) ministries/government departments and 7 (44%) of national Olympic committees have
developed programs.
2.4 Preventing gender-based violence in sport
Only 25% of all sport federations have a specic written policy or action plan for preventing and combating
gender-based violence in sport. In Croatia, Czech Republic and Denmark, there are no sport federations that have
such an action plan or policy. This is shown in Table 12. 64% of the sport federations in Finland, 59% of the sport
federations in Spain and 57% of those in Austria have a written policy in this area. The table also reveals that sport
federations in Finland, Austria, Israel, Albania, Georgia, Croatia and Czech Republic have no money allocated for
the implementation of the policy.
Table 12. Sport federations with a written policy and funding for preventing and combating gender-based
violence in the dierent countries.
Policy/action plan Funding
Country % n % n
Finland 64 18 0 0
Spain 59 16 25 4
Austria 57 17 0 0
France 36 11 45 5
Netherlands 36 9 11 1
Lithuania 35 12 17 2
Belgium 24 14 21 3
Portugal 22 6 33 2
Azerbaijan 16 4 25 1
Israel 15 4 0 0
Serbia 14 3 33 1
Albania 9 2 0 0
Georgia 9 3 0 0
Croatia 0 0 0 0
Czech Republic 0 0 0 0
Denmark 0 0 0 0
Total 25 119 6 28
Page 20 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
Figure 4 shows that 29% of the sport federations have implemented actions to prevent and combat gender-based
violence in sport. Except for Denmark, there are sport federations in all countries that have taken such action. Austria
has the highest proportion of federations that have done so (67%), followed by Finland (55%) and France (48%).
The countries with the fewest sport federations with programs to prevent and combat gender-based violence in
sport are Croatia and Czech Republic (11%).
SPORT FEDERATIONS WITH ACTION TAKEN TO PREVENT AND COMBAT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE IN
EACH COUNTRY (%)
4
Austria
Finland
France
Spain
Netherlands
Belgium
In all
Azerbaijan
Georgia
Israel
Lithuania
Portugal
Albania
Serbia
Croatia
Czech Republic
Denmark
67
55
48
34
29
28
25
22
21
19
14
11
11
0
14
36
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
41
2.5 Gender equality in media/communications
The participants in the study were also asked if their organisation had any portrayal guidelines for gender-balanced
representation in the content of their communication materials (texts, pictures, etc.), including in social media.
Relatively few sport federations seem to have such guidelines, 19% for all the countries. Figure 5 reveals that in France
77% and in Spain 56% of the federations do have portrayal guidelines. In all the other countries the percentages
are under 30%, with no sport federations in Lithuania and only 3% in Czech Republic showing such concern.
SPORT FEDERATIONS WITH PORTRAYAL GUIDELINES FOR GENDER BALANCE IN COMMUNICATION
CONTENT IN EACH COUNTRY (%)
5
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
3
6 6 6
10
11
14
17 18 18 19
20
26 28
56
77
Lithuania
Czech Republic
Georgia
Denmark
Croatia
Belgium
Portugal
Albania
Austria
Serbia
Finland
In all
Netherlands
Israel
Azerbaijan
Spain
France
Page 21
Men also dominate the world of sport journalism. Figure 6 shows the percentages of female journalists who were
assigned as reporters to the last two Olympic and Paralympic Games - in Rio and PyeongChang. 40% of the journalists
from Albania were women, but for the rest of the countries the percentage of female reporters varies between 6 and 20%.
FEMALE JOURNALISTS FROM THE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES, WORKING AT THE OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC
GAMES IN RIO (2016) AND PYEONGCHANG (2018) (%) - SOURCE: INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE
(IOC) AND INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE (IPC)
6
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
6
9
10 10 10
11 11
12 14
15 15
17
18 18 19 20
40
Belgium
Finland
Denmark
Czech Republic
Croatia
Serbia
Portugal
Lithuania
Austria
Azerbaijan
Georgia
In all
Israel
France
Spain
Netherlands
Albania
2.6 Policies and programmes to address gender equality in sport
Table 13 shows the answer to the following question: “Does your organisation have a specic written policy and/
or action plan for advancing towards equality between females and males in sport?” (This is referred to as “gender
equality plan” hereafter). Follow-up questions were: “if the organisation had human resources dedicated,” and “if
funding was allocated to the implementation of it.”
Table 13. Percentages of the sport federations with a gender equality plan, and the human resources and
funding for its implementation in each country
Country
Gender Equality Plan Human Resources Funding
% n % %
France 74 23 96 87
Finland 68 19 63 21
Israel 33 9 67 67
Portugal 33 5 33 44
Spain 22 6 83 67
Georgia 19 6 100 33
Albania 18 4 50 0
Serbia 18 4 50 25
Austria 17 5 40 0
Netherlands 16 4 75 25
Azerbaijan 12 3 100 100
Belgium 12 7 86 71
Lithuania 12 4 50 50
Croatia 11 4 50 0
Denmark 11 2 50 50
Czech Republic 3 1 100 100
Total 22 106 74 49
Page 22 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
Twelve of the 16 countries participating in our study seem to have a national gender equality plan. These have
been developed by the NOC only (Croatia, Albania, Austria, Lithuania and Netherlands), or the ministry/government
department (Portugal and Belgium (Flanders)) or by both the NOC and the ministry/government department
(Finland, France, Georgia, and Israel). In addition, 22% of the sport federations have such a policy or plan for
advancing towards equality between females and males in sport. However, it is not that common. The exceptions
are France and Finland, where respectively 74% and 68% of the sport federations do have such a policy. Table 13
shows that very few sports in Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Azerbaijan, Belgium or Lithuania have a gender
equality action plan.
It is, however, not enough to have a gender equality plan. A country also needs the resources to carry it out. The sport
federations in Azerbaijan, Czech Republic and Georgia all have human resources dedicated to the implementation
of the plan and the two rst also have funding allocated. Fewer sport federations (on average 49%) have funding,
compared with human resources (on average 74%), for carrying out the plan in practice (Table 13).
Two of the most common strategies used to enhance gender equality are armative action and gender
mainstreaming. Tables 14 A and B reveal that relatively few sport federations (17%) use these strategies and
that there are large dierences between the countries. Gender mainstreaming is most often used by the sport
federations in France (39%), Spain (33%) and in Finland (32%). The same countries, plus Israel, also have the highest
number of sport federations that are taking armative action (France 48%, Spain and Israel 37%). In most of the
countries armative action has been used more often than gender mainstreaming. This is true for France, Spain,
Croatia, Israel, Portugal, Serbia, Denmark and Netherlands. In Finland, Lithuania, Azerbaijan and Albania it is
the opposite, since gender mainstreaming strategies have been used more often than armative action. Sport
federations in Austria and Georgia have only used gender mainstreaming and those in the Netherlands only
armative action.
Tables 14.A and 14.B. The use of armative action and gender mainstreaming in the sport federations in
the dierent countries
14.A Armative action 14.B Gender mainstreaming
Country % n Country % n
France 48 15 France 39 12
Israel 37 10 Spain 33 9
Spain 37 10 Finland 32 9
Croatia 27 9 Lithuania 24 8
Portugal 19 5 Austria 23 7
Serbia 18 4 Azerbaijan 16 4
Denmark 17 3 Croatia 15 5
Netherlands 16 4 Israel 15 4
Belgium 13 8 Portugal 15 4
Azerbaijan 12 3 Albania 14 3
Finland 11 3 Serbia 14 3
Czech Republic 6 2 Belgium 12 7
Lithuania 6 2 Denmark 11 2
Albania 5 1 Georgia 9 3
Austria 0 0 Czech Republic 6 2
Georgia 0 0 Netherlands 0 0
Total 17 79 Total 17 82
Page 23
2.7 Conclusion
In general, there are large dierences between the countries with respect to all of the themes surveyed in the
study. Only Netherlands (57%) and Finland (50%) among the NOCs have a gender-balanced composition of their
boards, which is necessary for having inuence on the future development of their sports. In general, there is little
gender balance in sport in almost all areas and in all countries. However, there are some countries which score
among the highest in most of the tables and the gures presented. These are primarily France, Finland, Spain and
Israel as shown in the rst part of this report.
Sport is in many ways a mirror of society at large, and it may therefore be interesting to see how the two ‘top’
countries in our study are ranked with respect to gender equality in general. On the Gender Equality Index 2017
produced by EIGE
18
, Finland is number three and France number ve among the countries in the European Union.
These two countries also score high on the Global Gender Gap report from 2018 produced by the World Economic
Forum
19
. Finland is number four and France number 11 here. This indicates that gender equality in society at
large may be of high importance for the development of gender equality in sport. Both in France and Finland the
ministries responsible for sport are very active with respect to implementing programs so that sport can be more
gender balanced. The importance of getting the ministries/public authorities in many of the countries more active
in developing gender equality in sport should therefore be strengthened.
18. EIGE (2018) Gender Equality Index 2017.
19. World Economic Forum (2018). The Global Gender Gap Report 2018.
Page 25
3.
GENDER EQUALITY IN AND BETWEEN THE DIFFERENT
SPORTS
20. As examples, the ski federation in France (which covers both biathlon and skiing) and belongs two dierent international federations/
union. The same is true for the Azerbaijan rowing and canoe federation. The two criteria mentioned above, resulted in the following
sports not being included in the analysis - bobsleigh and skeleton, biathlon, curling, luge and pentathlon. With respect to those sports
where there are more than one federation belonging to the same international federations, for example many federations in Belgium
and canoe in Czech Republic, we have used the following logic. For 0-1 variables such as actions taken and gender mainstreaming, the
sports are only counted once, but when we operate with sum scores (like number of board members and memberships), then both
sport federations are counted, since it is the proportion of female board members and female membership that is presented.
In the following section we are looking at dierences between some of the Olympic sports, 30 out of the 35 reported
in the study. The criteria used to include the sports in the analysis was that the sport should exist in a least half (8)
of the countries, and that it should belong to only one international federation/union.
20
3.1 Gender equality in leadership in the dierent sports
Table 15 presents the percentage of female presidents, vice-presidents and board members in the dierent
sports, in the number of countries where this sport exists. Eleven sports (37%) do not have any female presidents.
These are badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, handball, hockey, rowing, shooting, taekwondo, volleyball and
wrestling. Most female presidents are found in skating (20%), gymnastics (19%) and triathlon (12%). Gymnastics
(46%) and skating (40%) have the largest proportion of female vice-presidents. One sport, ice hockey, does not
have any female vice-presidents. Two sports, gymnastics and skating, have a gender balanced representation,
with 56% and 51% female board members. For all other sports the women account for 28% or less on the boards
of their sport federations.
Page 26 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
Table 15. Female leadership in the dierent sports
Sports
Female presidents Female vice-presidents Female board members
% n % n % n
Archery 7 2 19 4 24 29
Athletics 3 1 18 7 22 54
Badminton 0 0 27 7 26 33
Basketball 3 1 15 6 20 40
Boxing 0 0 8 2 15 22
Canoeing 0 0 12 3 13 16
Cycling 0 0 8 3 15 28
Equestrian 7 2 12 4 26 43
Fencing 4 1 32 9 26 32
Football 4 1 7 2 10 19
Golf 7 2 11 2 17 27
Gymnastics 19 5 46 18 52 83
Handball 0 0 21 8 21 48
Hockey 0 0 17 3 27 25
Ice hockey 5 1 0 0 12 11
Judo 3 1 11 4 17 30
Rowing 0 0 6 2 25 33
Rugby 3 1 18 7 19 27
Sailing 8 2 25 10 26 36
Shooting 0 0 11 3 17 28
Skating 20 5 40 6 51 58
Skiing 5 1 20 3 13 11
Swimming 8 3 23 9 27 61
Table tennis 3 1 17 5 16 24
Taekwondo 0 0 14 4 25 38
Tennis 3 1 21 8 14 32
Triathlon 12 3 20 6 27 43
Volleyball 0 0 19 6 28 53
Weightlifting 4 1 26 6 22 25
Wrestling 0 0 14 6 10 19
Total 4 35 18 163 22 1028
Page 27
ACTIONS TAKEN TO GET MORE WOMEN INTO DECISION-MAKING POSITIONS IN THE DIFFERENT SPORTS (%)
7
Football
Volleyball
Judo
Boxing
Hockey
Triathlon
Athletics
Weightlifting
Taekwondo
Badminton
Swimming
Rowing
Ice hockey
Golf
Tennis
In all
Cycling
Basketball
Fencing
Equestrian
Archery
Shooting
Handball
Wrestling
Table tennis
Rugby
Gymnastics
canoeing
Sailing
Skiing
85
73
73
71
70
69
69
67
67
67
63
62
60
57
56
56
53
53
50
50
50
46
44
43
43
43
43
42
38
33
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90
Many sport federations have taken measures to recruit and increase the number of women in decision-making
positions in sport. This is shown in Figure 7. The most active has been football, where 85% of the national football
federations have done so, followed by judo and volleyball (73%) and boxing (71%).
3.2 Gender equality in coaching by sport
PERCENTAGES OF FEMALE ELITE LEVEL EMPLOYED COACHES BY SPORT
8
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Boxing
Fencing
Wrestling
Ice hockey
Skiing
Sailing
Weightlifting
Rowing
Canoeing
Volleyball
Taekwondo
Golf
Hockey
Badminton
Athletics
Handball
Football
Cycling
Table tennis
Basketball
Judo
In all
Tennis
Swimming
Equestrian
Triathlon
Shooting
Rugby
Skating
Archery
Gymnastics
2
8 9 10
11 12
13 13
14 14
16 16 16 17 17 18 18 19
21 21
22 22
25 26 27
32
35
37
46 49
Almost half of the employed elite level coaches in the gymnastics (49%) and archery (46%) federations are women.
These are also the only sports that are gender balanced. Boxing, fencing, ice hockey and wrestling have the fewest
female elite level employed coaches. This is shown in Figure 8.
Page 28 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
As shown in Figure 9, many sport federations have implemented measures to recruit and increase the number of women
coaches. Between the Football federations 77% have done this. In nine of the sports (archery, athletics, badminton,
basketball, football, ice hockey, judo, rugby and wrestling ), 50% or more have taken action in this area. In fencing,
golf, skiing and triathlon very few federations have developed policies to increase the number of female coaches.
ACTIONS IMPLEMENTED IN THE DIFFERENT SPORTS TO RECRUIT AND INCREASE THE NUMBER OF
FEMALE COACHES (%)
9
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Skiing
Golf
Triathlon
Fencing
Equestrian
Hockey
Shooting
Taekwondo
Gymnastics
Sailing
Skating
Cycling
Canoeing
Weightlifting
In all
Boxing
Table tennis
Handball
Swimming
Tennis
Rowing
Volleyball
Archery
Ice hockey
Rugby
Badminton
Basketball
Athletics
Wrestling
Judo
Football
11
14
15 17
29
30 31
33
36
38 38
40
42 42 42
43 43
44 44 44
46
47
50 50 50
5353
56
57
67
77
3.3 Gender equality in participation in the dierent sports
21
In this European study, the following sports have more female than male members of a sport club/federation -
equestrian (84%), gymnastics (81%), skating (60%), volleyball (59%) and swimming (52%). Men dominate in all
other sports and there are very few female members of a sport club or a federation in shooting (11%), football (9%),
rugby (8%) and ice hockey (7%). 70% (n=21) of the sports have fewer than 40% of female members (Figure 10).
PROPORTION OF FEMALE MEMBERS OF A SPORT CLUB/
FEDERATION WITH A BREAKDOWN BY SPORT (%)
10
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Ice hockey
Rugby
Football
Shooting
Table tennis
Cycling
Wrestling
Boxing
Triathlon Judo
Archery
Fencing
Golf
In all
Basketball
Canoeing
Taekwondo
Weightlifting
Tennis
Badminton
Hockey
Handball
Sailing
Rowing
Skiing
Athletics
Swimming
Volleyball
Skating
Gymnastics
Equestrian
7
8
9
11
13
15
18
22
24
27
29 29
29
31
34 34
35
35
36
37
39
40
41
42
44
52
46
59 60
81
84
21. In interpreting these results, one should take into account that there are many federations that did not answer the questions on registered
members either for under 18 years of age or 18 years and above.
Page 29
Figure 11 reveals which sports have taken action to increase the number of girls and women active in physical
activity/sport. Many sports are active in this area (62% on average) and every federation in basketball and ice
hockey have done so.
ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE DIFFERENT SPORTS TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF GIRLS AND WOMEN
ACTIVE IN SPORT/PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (%)
11
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Skiing
Skating
Equestrian
Gymnastics
Sailing
Shooting
Fencing
Golf
Swimming
Wrestling
Taekwondo
Athletics
Archery
Table tennis
In all
Tennis
Canoeing
Volleyball
Handball
Rowing
Triathlon
Hockey
Badminton
Judo
Rugby
Cycling
Boxing
Weightlifting
Football
Basketball
Ice hockey
22
23
29
29
46 46
50
50 50
50
53
56
57 57
62
63
67 67
69
69
69
70
73 73
79
86
80
92
92
100100
3.4 The prevention of gender-based violence in the dierent sports
The sport with the highest number of federations with a policy or action plan for preventing and combating
gender-based violence in sport is football. Table 16 shows that 62% of the football federations have such a policy
in place. For skating and triathlon the percentage is 46.
Table 16. Sport federations with a gender-based violence policy and those with funding for its implementation
Sport
Gender-based violence policy Funding
% n % n
Football 62 8 38 3
Skating 46 6 0 0
Triathlon 46 6 33 2
Badminton 40 6 33 2
Athletics 38 6 17 1
Equestrian 36 5 20 1
Wrestling 36 5 20 1
Basketball 33 5 0 0
Cycling 33 5 20 1
Swimming 31 5 40 2
Hockey 30 3 0 0
Archery 29 4 25 1
Rugby 29 4 50 2
Judo 27 4 25 1
Fencing 25 3 0 0
Page 30 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
Sport
Gender-based violence policy Funding
% n % n
Handball 25 4 25 1
Tennis 25 4 25 1
Sailing 23 3 67 2
Shooting 23 3 33 1
Golf 21 3 0 0
Gymnastics 21 3 67 2
Ice hockey 20 2 50 1
Volleyball 20 3 0 0
Canoeing 17 2 100 2
Weightlifting 17 2 0 0
Rowing 15 2 50 1
Boxing 14 2 0 0
Table tennis 14 2 0 0
Skiing 11 1 0 0
Taekwondo 0 0 0 0
Total 27 111 25 28
None of the national federations in taekwondo have a gender-based violence policy and in boxing, canoeing,
rowing, skiing, table tennis and weightlifting, the percentage is under 20. As indicated earlier, one needs resources
to implement an action plan or policy. Table 16 reveals that basketball, boxing, fencing, golf, hockey, skating,
skiing, table tennis, volleyball and weightlifting have no funding allocated to carry out their plan. Sailing is the
sport where all federations (n=2) with a gender-based violence policy have earmarked funding.
ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE DIFFERENT SPORTS TO PREVENT GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE (%)
12
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Skiing
Golf
Table tennis
Weightlifting
Cycling
Taekwondo
Archery
Shooting
Canoeing
Judo
Equestrian
Hockey
Ice hockey
Rowing
Sailing
Triathlon
Tennis
In all
Basketball
Boxing
Rugby
Wrestling
Athletics
Swimming
Badminton
Volleyball
Fencing
Gymnastics
Handball
Skating
Football
11
14
14
17
20
20
21
23
25
27
29
30
30
31 31
31
31
31
33
36 36
36
38 38
40
42
40
43
44
46
54
Football is also the sport where most federations (54%) have implemented measures to combat and prevent
gender-based violence in sport. In six other sports, 40% or more of their federations have taken action in this
area (badminton, fencing, gymnastics, handball, skating and volleyball). Only 11% of the skiing federations have
done so (Figure 12).
Page 31
3.5 Gender equality in media/communications in the dierent sports
Figure 13 shows the percentage for each sport that have some portrayal guidelines, produced by the federation,
for gender balanced representation in the content of communication materials (texts, pictures, social media,
etc.). As many as 80% of the sport federations do not have any such guidelines. For two sports, gymnastics and
skating, there are none in any country. There are however large dierences between the sports. More than half
(54%) of the football federations have portrayal guidelines for gender-balanced representation in the content of
their communication materials. For basketball it is 40% and for equestrian and wrestling 36%.
PORTRAYAL GUIDELINES FOR A GENDER BALANCED REPRESENTATION
IN COMMUNICATION MATERIALS IN THE DIFFERENT SPORTS (%)
13
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Football
Basketball
Equestrian
Wrestling
Athletics
Rugby
Cycling
Canoeing
Swimming
Tennis
Shooting
Archery
In all
Hockey
Judo
Volleyball
Handball
Fencing
Weightlifting
Sailing
Triathlon
Boxing
Golf
Badminton
Skiing
Ice hockey
Rowing
Table tennis
Taekwondo
Gymnastics
Skating
54
40
36 36
31
29
27
25 25 25
23
21
20 20 20
20
19
17
17
15 15
14
14
13
11
8
10
7
7
0
0
3.6 Policies and programmes to address gender equality by sport
The sport federations were also asked if they had “a specic written policy and/or action plan for advancing towards
equality between females and males in sport” (referred to as a “gender equality plan” hereafter). Except for equestrian,
where no federations had a plan, there is at least one federation in each of the other sports that has such a gender
equality plan. The sport that has the highest number of federations with a gender equality plan is football (54%). For
handball, sailing and swimming the percentage is 38%. This is shown in Table 17. The sport federations were also
asked if they had human resources and funding to implement their plans. The columns to the right in Table 17 reveals
that nine of the sports (cycling, fencing, football, handball, hockey, ice hockey, rowing, rugby and triathlon) have
some human resources dedicated to its implementation, but no federation in skating or skiing have such resources.
Federations in fencing, ice hockey, and triathlon did have funding allocated to carry out their gender equality
plans, but no federations in boxing, judo, skating or skiing had any funding allocated to implement the policy.
Table 17. Sports that have a gender equality plan and those with human resources and funding allocated
for its implementation.
Gender Equality Plan Human Resources Funding
Country % n % n % n
Football 54 7 100 7 43 3
Handball 38 6 100 6 67 4
Sailing 38 5 80 4 60 3
Swimming 38 6 50 3 33 2
Badminton 33 5 80 4 40 2
Basketball 33 5 80 4 80 4
Taekwondo 33 5 60 3 40 2
Volleyball 33 5 60 3 80 4
Page 32 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
Gender Equality Plan Human Resources Funding
Country % n % n % n
Weightlifting 33 4 75 3 50 2
Golf 29 4 75 3 25 1
Wrestling 29 4 50 2 25 1
Cycling 27 4 100 4 50 2
Athletics 25 4 50 2 25 1
Tennis 25 4 75 3 50 2
Rowing 23 3 100 3 67 2
Shooting 23 3 67 2 33 1
Skating 23 3 0 0 0 0
Triathlon 23 3 67 2 100 3
Archery 21 3 67 2 67 2
Rugby 21 3 100 3 67 2
Hockey 20 2 100 2 50 1
Ice hockey 20 2 100 2 100 2
Canoeing 17 2 50 1 50 1
Boxing 14 2 50 1 0 0
Gymnastics 14 2 50 1 50 2
Table tennis 14 2 50 1 50 1
Judo 13 2 50 1 0 0
Skiing 11 1 0 0 0 0
Fencing 8 1 100 1 100 1
Equestrian 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 25 102 72 73 50 51
As shown earlier few sports have taken armative action to make up for past discrimination and inequality in
sport. The sports where most federations have used armative action are basketball (27%), volleyball (27%) and
handball (25%). None of the federations in boxing, equestrian, judo, skating or skiing have taken armative action
(Figure 14).
SPORTS THAT HAVE TAKEN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION (%)
14
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Boxing
Equestrian
Judo
Skating
Skiing
Athletics
Golf
Table tennis
Wrestling
Shooting
Canoeing
Fencing
Hockey
In all
Swimming
Tennis
Badminton
Cycling
Taekwondo
Archery
Gymnastics
Rugby
Rowing
Weightlifting
Ice hockey
Football
Sailing
Triathlon
Handball
Basketball
Volleyball
0
0
0
0 0
6
7 7 7
8 8 8
10
12
13 13 13 13 13
14 14
14
15
17
20
23
23
23
25
27 27
Page 33
Gender mainstreaming is not used very often (Figure 15). Table tennis is the only sport where no federation has
implemented this strategy. For basketball it is almost half (47%) of the federations, but for 17 of the sports less
than 20% of their federations have worked with a gender mainstreaming strategy.
SPORTS WITH A GENDER MAINSTREAMING STRAGETY (%)
15
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Table tennis
Taekwondo
Golf
Gymnastics
Sailing
Skating
Skiing
Handball
Swimming
Judo
Archery
Equestrian
Rugby
Wrestling
Shooting
Triathlon
Weightlifting
Tennis
In all
Hockey
Volleyball
Boxing
Rowing
Cycling
Ice hockey
Athletics
Badminton
Canoeing
Fencing
Football
Basketball
0
7
7
7 8
8
11
13 13
14
14 14 14
14 15 15
17
19
19
20 20
21
23
27
30
33
31
33
33
38
47
3.7 Conclusion
Not surprisingly the highest proportion of women in decision-making positions and among elite level employed
coaches are found in traditional female sports such as gymnastics and skating. Two sports have many more female
than male members and therefore need more men to be gender balanced. These are equestrian with 84% female
members and gymnastics with 81%. In addition, skating (60%), volleyball (59%) and swimming (52%) are gender
balanced. But, in spite of this high proportion of female members, the most powerful positions in these, and in
most other sports, are almost always held by a man, eg the president. This implies that women do not get the
opportunity to inuence the development of the sport to the same degree as men. To change this situation, it may
be important for sport federations to have a gender equality plan and to use common strategies for change, such
as armative action and gender mainstreaming. The results revealed that the sport federations often use neither
of these approaches. It is interesting that football, which for many years was looked upon as a very masculine
sport, and forbidden for women, today scores higher than many other sports on some of the gender equality
indicators in our study. More than half of the football federations, for example, have a gender equality plan. The
fact that UEFA (and FIFA) for many years have implemented dierent projects to increase the number of girls and
women in the world of football may partly explain this positive development. In conclusion, sport federations
should become more proactive with respect to implementing plans for change in their sport, and learn from each
other, both inside and outside their own country.
Page 34 7 ALL IN! TOWARDS GENDER BALANCE IN EUROPEAN SPORT - Analytical report of the data collection campaign
ALL IN: Towards gender balance in sport (Erasmus +)
PREMS 093419
ENG
The Member States of the European Union have
decided to link together their know-how, resources
and destinies. Together, they have built a zone of
stability, democracy and sustainable development
whilst maintaining cultural diversity, tolerance
and individual freedoms. The European Union is
committed to sharing its achievements and its values
with countries and peoples beyond its borders.
www.europa.eu
The Council of Europe is the continent’s leading
human rights organisation. It comprises 47 member
states, including all members of the European
Union. All Council of Europe member states have
signed up to the European Convention on Human
Rights, a treaty designed to protect human rights,
democracy and the rule of law. The European Court
of Human Rights oversees the implementation
of the Convention in the member states.
www.coe.int
www.coe.int/sport/ALLIN
ALL IN: Towards gender balance in sport (Erasmus +)
ALL IN!
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ANALYTICAL REPORT
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