Commentary: 'Sexist' futsal league rules — there're better ways to tackle gender discrimination in co-ed sports

The D2D Mixed Fives, the first ever co-ed futsal league in Singapore, has drawn flak for certain rules coming across as benevolent sexism.

The tournament on Oct 20 announced its rules, including these two: 1) any direct free-kick foul committed on female players will lead to the awarding of a penalty kick; and 2) goals scored by female players will be counted as double points.

As with all new ventures, there are bound to be teething issues. The rules singled out above quickly proved particularly divisive, drawing a variety of heated reactions from players and netizens.

In my view, as a female football player with eight years of experience, having played in both single-sex and co-ed matches, the rules are, unfortunately, sexist indeed.

To be clear, this is not a condemnation of the organisers' intentions. To their credit, D2D Sports spoke extensively to coaches and female players about their concerns with regards to playing in a mixed-gender competition. They then created these rules with the good intentions to protect female players who were worried about getting seriously injured.

D2D Sports also wanted to ensure that female players were not fielded merely as token players, but given plenty of opportunity for equal participation.

Mixed-gender futsal matches in Singapore are on the rise, but sexism within the local football scene is still rampant. When female players join a game with predominantly male players, we have to first prove our worth in order to be taken seriously.

NOT ABOUT PHYSIOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES

Since before the 1990s, football was offered as a Co-Curricular Activity for boys in most primary and secondary schools. At the time, very few of those schools offered the sport for girls.

The lack of opportunity to train from a younger age, compounded with the physiological differences between males and females from birth, has undoubtedly influenced the still widely-held notion that women are less capable at playing football than men.

To put things into perspective, at the highest level of competition, the record for the fastest female 100m sprint is held by Florence Griffith-Joyner (10.49 seconds), whereas the 35th-fastest male 100m sprint is held by Lamont Marcell Jacobs (9.81 seconds). The record for the heaviest female squat ever is held by Leah Reichman with an impressive 399.1 kg, and the heaviest male squat by Nathan Baptist is recorded at a whopping 595 kg.

The physiological gap is undeniable.

However, we need to consider that a sport like football, including all its variants, is not just about speed and strength.

It is a complex game that requires technique, skills, ball touches, football intelligence, game reading, tactics, and most importantly, team chemistry. That is what makes it the Beautiful Game — it is not a competition of brute force and unbridled speed.

It is a game that requires finesse, no matter the player’s gender, especially in a variant like futsal, where the pitch is small and each touch of the ball is consequential.

FAIRNESS FOR ALL

Teams who enter into mixed-gender competitions should choose their players wisely. They would have ideally spent a decent amount of time playing together to build up chemistry and develop an understanding of how to play to each other’s strengths and weaknesses.

Under the assumption that these teams are competing to win, it would be in their best interest to utilise every player, as futsal is a physically demanding game. If a single player is not properly involved in the game, the team is essentially handicapping itself.

Football fans will likely have heard of the Red Bull Neymar Jr’s Mixed Five, where there are no concessions given to neither female nor male players. Grassroots leagues in Australia do not have special rules catered to protecting female players either.

It would behoove D2D Sports to reference these leagues in their next season, making the game fair for all players. Men should not be afraid to tackle women as part of game play, and women are more than capable of taking hits. It is a contact sport, after all.

While any gender-specific rules were understandably set in place with good intentions, they do put out the message that the protection of female players matters more than their participation. Female players who have been training and playing consistently can more than hold their own on the pitch alongside their male counterparts.

SIMPLE EQUALITY

The truth is, all versions of football can get ugly, not just the professional iterations we see on TV. Here in Singapore, Sunday League regulars have seen ambulances and even the police called in — but this happens in both all-male and all-female competitions.

Nevertheless, all amateur football players in Singapore must keep in mind that, regardless of gender, this is a recreational league with no cash prize. Every one of us needs to return to work and family responsibilities the next day, with as few injuries as possible.

Criticism aside, D2D Sports deserves commendation for bravely venturing into unknown waters. For its next season, organisers should consider structuring games so that every goal scored is recorded as a goal, regardless of who scored it.

Aggressive or malicious players should also be banned, regardless of gender.

Equality is simple: The rules should be the same for both men and women. Scoring goals takes skill and effort for any player. Injuries hurt the same for any person.

Players who choose to take part in such competitions should and must first understand the consequences of participating in any contact sport with peers of any gender. Players should and must also remember that sporting events such as this will not win them Olympic medals -- these are opportunities for us to put our egos aside, and focus on sportsmanship and good skill.

Rules of any kind should protect both men and women, with no special concessions made for either side. That is true equality.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Grace Ke is a recreational football player of eight years and a former coach at Spartans Boxing Club. She is the creator and host of Naked.Graced., a forthcoming podcast where she talks about fitness, mental health, and living wholeheartedly through vulnerability.