Norway’s women’s beach handball team was fined Monday (July 19th) for wearing shorts at the European Championships over the weekend in protest of the International Handball Federation rules requiring them to wear bikini bottoms.
Under the rules, men are required to wear shorts, but women have to wear bikini bottoms, described as having a “close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg,” and with a side width of no more than just under four inches. Norway’s team had asked before the championship tournament if the women could wear shorts, but was told no, and that they’d be fined or disqualified if they did.
But they wore the shorts anyway in their bronze medal match against Spain on Sunday.
The European Handball Federation said Tuesday it was in the process of addressing the issue, stating, “The position of the players involved is acknowledged and further steps, in close coordination with the [International Handball Federation] are in motion.”
The president of the Norwegian Handball Federation, Kare Geir Lio, told the New York Times that Norway had complained about the bikini bottoms rule since 2006 and, quote, “nothing has happened.”