“Cricket, golf and football showed some of the biggest disparities although prize money for women has increased substantially in these sports over the past three years. Other sports that do not reward male and female competitors equally according to the study are cliff diving, ski jumping, darts and snooker plus some cycling events. Women are allowed to enter the world championships in darts and snooker but also have their own separate competitions.”

 It is the second time BBC Sport has carried out the global study, for which 68 sports' governing bodies were contacted with 55 responding. The first one was in 2014. That study showed 30% of sports rewarded men better than women. The 2017 study, which looked at prize money for world championships and events of an equivalent standard only, does not include wages, bonuses or sponsorship. It found that 44 sports pay prize money, of which 35 pay equally./.