When the International Olympic Committee president, Jacques Rogge, declared at the opening ceremony that London 2012 was "a major boost for gender equality", perhaps he had not heard that on their flights to London the Japanese women's football team and the Australian women's basketball team were relegated to economy class, while the men flew business.

Still, hopes that this Olympics may yet live up to its billing as the "equality games" have been boosted as the Japanese Football Association (JFA) suggested its women footballers may get an upgrade on the way home, while Basketball Australia promised a review of Olympic travel policy.

The JFA's treatment of its female team prompted outrage, in less than 24 hours more than 17,000 signed an online petition on the campaign website Change.org to push the JFA to change their minds. Or maybe they just stuck to a promise: after the row exploded the chairman stated that a business-class flight for the women "would be considered for the women's team if they bring a medal home".

On Monday, the Nadeshiko, as they are known, won 2-1 against France in the women's football semi-final, assuring themselves a place in the final on Thursday and at least a silver medal.

Coach Norio Sasaki said the women may now fly business class back to Tokyo. "The Japan Football Association is trying to work something out," Sasaki told Kyodo News. "When we came here we came in premium economy and there wasn't a problem," he said.

But critics will continue to question why the more successful women's team – they won the World Cup in Germany last year, bringing joy to a country still reeling from the tsumani which killed 20,000 people – were given places in economy while the men's squad relaxed in business class on the same plane. Asked about the situation at the time Homare Sawa, the star of Japan's women's football team and Fifa's 2011 world player of the year, told journalists: "I guess it should have been the other way around. Even just in terms of age, we are senior."

And the upgrade does not even appear to be in the bag. "The problem is when we go back there will probably not be enough business seats available. If that's the case we will be in premium again," said Sasaki. "If you look at the way we played then you will see that we are very patient and would put up with economy."

The Japanese women, nicknamed Nadeshiko after a pink flower that symbolises femininity and grace in Japan, have shown no mercy in their quest to win gold. They beat Brazil 2-0 in the quarter-finals.

The less successful men's team also reached the semi-finals, for the first time in 44 years, beating Egypt 3-0. They will now face Mexico on Tuesday.

Sohko Fujimoto, 28, co-organiser of the petition on Change.org said the debate was an opportunity for the JFA to prove its commitment to women's sport in Japan. "Whatever happens we'll be cheering on Nadeshiko on Thursday," she said.

"If the JFA lends an ear to the thousands of fans around the world who have backed our campaign, that would be a great result, and starting point, for women's soccer in both Japan and around the globe."

There is also movement from Basketball Australia which was criticised for flying the male squad, known as the Boomers, in business class while the female squad, the Opals, flew economy. The Australian women have taken silver at the last three Games. The men have never won a medal.

In a statement, Basketball Australia's acting CEO, Scott Derwin, promised a review of the travelling arrangements, which were a "longstanding policy", with each team given a budget, over which they had control. He said that, historically, the Opals had been given more funding.

However, he recognised that the furore had left the organisation open to claims of sexism. "The simple fact is when a policy results in gender inequality, it's very clearly not the right policy going forward," he said.

"I am putting in place a review of our Olympic travel policy with the goal of ensuring there is equity between travel arrangements for the men's and women's teams attending future Olympics."

Kristina Keneally, incoming CEO, welcomed the move. "In this day and age, there's just no excuse for men's and women's sporting teams to be treated differently when they both compete at the same world class level. In fact, in this circumstance, the disparity is even more glaring when you consider that our women's basketball team is one of the best in the world – enjoying the No 2 spot in international rankings."