ICC announces equal prize money for men, women at global events

In a landmark decision aimed at ushering in pay parity in international cricket, the International Cricket Council (ICC) announced that it was introducing equal prize money for men’s and women’s teams at its global events. Cricket is now set to become the first team sport to have pay parity at international events. Tennis was the first to take a step in this direction when Venus Williams became the first woman to receive the same prize money as her male counterpart at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. In October last year, the BCCI had announced that it was introducing equal match fee for India’s male and female cricketers for appearances in international cricket. The decision was taken at the ICC’s annual conference in Durban, South Africa. It’s learnt that BCCI secretary Jay Shah, who attended the meeting, played an active role as the head of the financial and commercial affairs committee (F&CA) in formulating the pay equity policy. “I am thrilled to announce that a major step towards gender parity and inclusivity has been undertaken. The prize money at all ICC events will be same for men and women. Together we grow,” Shah tweeted. ICC chairman Greg Barclay said: “This is a significant moment in the history of our sport.”
New revenue model approved
ICC’s new finance model, as per which India is set to get 38. 5% of the $600 million annual earnings for the 2024-27 cycle, was approved at the ICC’s annual conference. As per this new revenue-distribution model for the next four years of ICC’s commercial cycle, the BCCI is projected to earn $230 million per year nearly 40% of the total ICC revenues in this period.