{"id":578,"date":"2015-06-26T21:29:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-26T21:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=578"},"modified":"2015-11-27T15:49:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-27T15:49:05","slug":"is-the-not-so-beautiful-mens-game-putting-people-off-womens-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/OU-Sport\/?p=578","title":{"rendered":"Is the not-so beautiful men\u2019s game putting people off women\u2019s football?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Helen Owton and Mark Doidge<\/strong><\/p>\n

The FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup is getting to the business end of the tournament. On Friday and Saturday the quarter-final matches will kick off with an enticing prospect as Germany take on France. It conjures up memories of classic tussles in the men\u2019s game, not least the infamous 1982 World Cup semi-final which saw German goalkeeper Harald Schumacher\u2019s \u201cassault\u201d on Patrick Battiston. The trouble is, it may be just these sorts of comparisons which are holding back the growth of interest in the women\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

In the current tournament, although matches featuring France and the hosts Canada have been popular and partisan, other games have been sparsely supported. Whilst the global television coverage is touted to exceed one billion viewers<\/a>, there have still been questions about the lack of spectators, and lack of media analysis of women\u2019s football in general<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\nCrowd trouble.<\/span>
\nGoToVan<\/a>, CC BY<\/a><\/span>
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Women\u2019s football might be one of the largest growing sports<\/a>, but it has a long way to go. Consider first that while Germany received $35 million for their triumph in the 2014 men\u2019s World Cup, the victors in Canada will win only $2 million<\/a>. And women\u2019s football simply doesn\u2019t attract the same levels of spectatorship as the men\u2019s game. There are plenty of reasons for that, of course. It takes time to build a following and fanbase; to create stars.<\/p>\n

Potentially too, this lack of spectators<\/a> may be due to the many myths around women\u2019s football (that were beautifully satirised by the Norwegian team<\/a>). Sexist attitudes still exist, as exemplified by the man in charge of promoting Brazilian football, Marco Aurelio Cunha<\/a>, who said women are \u201cgetting more beautiful, putting on make-up\u201d. Not should we forget that women\u2019s football is not celebrated in all countries, as seen in the outrage of men in Saudi Arabia<\/a>. But crucially, we fear that women\u2019s football is suffering from the tarnished image of its successful but divisive sibling \u2013 the men\u2019s game.<\/p>\n