The Taiwan Professional Basketball Players’ Association (TPBPA) yesterday called on spectators to wear black to last night’s William Jones Cup game in New Taipei City to protest the Taiwanese basketball federation’s policy of paying female players less than their male counterparts.
The protest came after the Chinese Taipei Basketball Association (CTBA) on Monday announced that male players would be paid NT$5,000 and female players NT$3,000 for appearing in each commercial international game starting from this year’s Cup, which comprises men’s and women’s tournaments featuring teams from several countries, including Taiwan.
The appearance fees were first proposed by the CTBA in last month’s meeting with the players’ associate to negotiate the rights and benefits of national basketball team players in competitions.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
CTBA deputy secretary-general Chang Cheng-chung (張承中) on Monday told reporters that while its meetings with the TPBPA have long been focused on the men’s division, its cooperation with the women’s division is a separate situation.
“Before the meeting, we proposed NT$3,000 per game for each selected player on the blue and white teams,” he said.
The CTBA has to balance its budget and maintain its business model while benefiting female players, he added.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
The TPBPA on Monday said that players wearing a national team jersey should not be treated differently because of their gender.
Both men and women are fighting for Taiwan and should not be treated differently, women’s blue team head coach Chiu Chi-yi (邱啟益) said.
While the negotiations between the CTBA and the TPBPA have led to better support services for the national team players and deserve recognition, gender equity should be considered as well without any differential treatment, Sports Administration Director Cheng Shih-chung (鄭世忠) said in a statement on Monday.
The men’s division yesterday expressed support for the women’s division via a TPBPA statement, saying that the male players would lower their appearance fee to NT$3,000 to be the same as female players if the CTBA decides on that number.
The dedication of the women’s division to basketball is no less than their male counterparts and deserves to be seen, especially with a relatively harsh environment for female basketball players in Taiwan, it said.
The CTBA on Monday said in response to the Sports Administration’s statement that “the CTBA would like to negotiate the appearance fees with players contingent on the situation.”
In a statement issued yesterday, the CTBA said the four negotiating meetings with the TPBPA had been conducted with the men’s division in mind, before the TPBPA raised the issue of the women’s division on Tuesday last week and radically modified the agreement.
The fifth negotiation would be suspended without the national team players’ rights affected, it said, adding that the CTBA has established rights for the women’s division, but has yet to discuss it with the TPBPA.
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