WSL agree to pay out equal prizemoney

IT WAS a simple pic that caused a firestorm of controversy. The World Surf League has listened to the outrage and made an awesome decision.

Conner O'Leary of Australia wins the Ballito Pro. Picture: WSL/Cestari.

THE World Surf League will award the same prizemoney for men and women starting in 2019.

Chief executive officer Sophie Goldschmidt said equal pay for surfers would apply for the league’s various tours — world championship, junior world championship, longboard and big wave.

Eleven-time world champion Kelly Slater told The Players’ Tribune website the move sent “a message to society — that equal prizemoney should be the standard.”

Australian world No.1 and six-time world champion Stephanie Gilmore said recently that despite winning four straight world championships, she didn’t receive nearly the same prize money and sponsorship as men did. The women also had fewer events.

The 2019 championship tour calendar features 11 men’s and 10 women’s events in Australia, Indonesia, South Africa, North America, French Polynesia, Europe and Hawaii.

A firestorm of controversy was sparked in June of a picture of the two winners of the Ballito Pro competition.

What’s wrong with this picture? Rio Waida and Zoe Steyn with their prizemoney. Picture: The Ballito Pro/Facebook

In the photograph, junior surfers Rio Waida and Zoe Steyn show off their oversized cheques — with the male surfer winning 8000 South African rand ($800) compared to the female surfer’s 4000 rand ($400).

The picture attracted more than 1200 Facebook comments, including this from user Warwick Bruce Chapman: “This is ridiculous. It is not 1918, it is 2018. The competition organisers should be deeply ashamed of themselves. What are we teaching our girls through this sort of archaic discrimination?”

Originally published as WSL agree to pay out equal prizemoney