Venus: Women Deserve Equal pay

26 June 2006

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Tennis Ace, Venus Williams has hit back at claims that Female tennis stars do not deserve the extra £30'000 prize money that the male stars compete for.

Currently, the prize is £655'000 for men, and £625'000 for women. Debate was ignites, last week, when Tesse Jowell expressed concern that the difference in prize money could tranish the competition's image. Now the stars of wimbledon are getting involved in the argument.

Other world class tennis tournaments offer equal prize money, and there is no reason why Wimbledon shouldn't. But according to 19 year old wimbledon competitor Andy Murray, women simply do not deserve equal pay.

The dunblane born star, who was criticised earlier in the year for another sexist remark, said that women simply do not draw the same crowds to the tournament as the men do.

But three-times Wimbledon champion Williams hit back. The American told The Scotsman: "It's not about earning more money or becoming well off; it's an equality issue, about being created as equals We represent women around the world. We're the premier sport for women.

"We would like to empower women around the world by showing that we are willing to fight for equality."

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