Pay Wimbledon women champs the same, urges UK minister

LONDON, June 19 (Reuters) Britain's sports minister Tessa Jowell today served notice on Wimbledon organisers that paying female winners less than their male counterparts was an anomaly that ought to be scrapped.

''I am deeply concerned at the ongoing disparity between the money paid to male and female players,'' Jowell wrote in a letter sent to All England Club chairman Tim Phillips a week before the event starts.

''It is anomalous that women receive less prize money than men and this fact is tarnishing the image of the championship.'' Wimbledon is one of two grand slam tournaments not to offer equal pay. While the Australian and US Opens make no discrepancy between the men and women participants, the French Open gives the same prize money to its singles champions but other women competitors are given less than their male counterparts.

At Wimbledon, the prize pot available for women, is 4.4 million pounds (8.11 million dollars), while the men will compete for 5.2 million.

The issue has long incensed top female players, including defending champion Venus Williams and Billie Jean King, who won 20 Wimbledon titles.

''We want to be treated equally as the men,'' three-times winner Williams said in April. ''This is not just about women's tennis but about women all over the world.'' Supporters of the discrepancy say women play three-set matches rather than the longer five-set matches in the men's game.

Jowell argued women's tennis was on a par with the men's game and had made great strides in recent years, becoming highly competitive and more entertaining.

''Coupled with that, the media attention and levels of global sponsorship are now on a par with the men's game,'' Jowell wrote.

Jowell pointed out that both the US Open and Australian Open have a clear policy of equal pay, and that the pay gap did not reflect ''the society of equal opportunity'' the UK had become in the 21st century.'' ''So I would like to join the chorus of voices across tennis urging you to consign this inequality to the past and bring your prize structure in line with the rest of world tennis.'' The All England Club was not immediately available for comment.

Phillips has previously been quoted as saying that he believed the pay was fair.

REUTERS AY RK1835