McCririck: Female Athletes Should Earn Less

Sacked racing pundit slams women’s rights author and claims equal pay in sport is ‘indefensible’

“It hasn’t been a great year for me” admits John McCririck. Having been sacked by Channel 4 and losing the resulting age discrimination case after being branded ‘unpalatable to a wider audience’, McCririck has once again put his foot in it, this time on Sportlobster TV.
The UK’s most recognisable horse racing pundit, referencing his time in the Big Brother house, said: “I was in there with Germaine Greer who has ruined the lives of millions of women. Her feminist book, The Female Eunuch, gives women ideas above their station. Ideas they keep striving for but cannot reach. I can’t stand the woman for what she stands for.”

Going on to discuss gender equality in the sporting context McCririck adds: “For example at Wimbledon in the tennis, women get paid the same as the men but women play three sets and the men play five. It’s absolutely indefensible. If they want to be paid more, go with five sets.”
When asked about his opinion on the recent trend in women-only poker tournaments, added: “I love poker, and when Victoria Coren Mitchell plays, she’s brilliant but if there were men-only poker tournaments there would be riots.
“Yes they have men-only golf clubs but can women compete with men at golf? No they can’t. If you get a woman who can go on the circuit and take on Tiger Woods, then it’s a different story.”
Also appearing on the sports-related chat show hosted on YouTube, was former 5Live and BBC Radio 1’s DJ Spoony, who agreed with McCririck’s opinions on the wages of female sport stars. “For women to earn the same amount of money as the men for three sets - especially as the top woman wouldn’t beat the top man - means they shouldn’t earn the same money. A player playing in the Championship or League One won’t earn what [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo or a top player in the Premier League earns because they don’t do the same thing.
“Although it’s important they still have the platform to perform. If my daughter told me she wanted to become a footballer I’d be delighted, but if she asked me why she’s not paid the same amount as Ronaldo, I’d say wait until you can play like Ronaldo and then you can earn the same.”

Sportlobster TV (youtube.com/sportlobster) is a twice-weekly programme posted on YouTube, where fans can watch celebrities discuss the questions they set at the sport social network (sportlobster.com/sportlobstertv).