In A Spectacularly Sexist Move, Norway’s Women’s Handball Team Fined For Not Wearing Bikini Bottoms
When it comes to sports, the rules for men and women are different. Especially when it comes to clothing. For some reason, the sports clothes for men and women are so drastically different and unjustified, that most of the time it doesn’t even make sense. In fact, quite recently, Norway’s women’s handball team faced a similar situation. The team was fined for improper clothing.
Yup, you heard it right. On Monday, Norway’s women’s beach handball team was fined 1,500 euros because the players chose to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms. Each of the players was fined 150 euros which the NHF is going to pay. The women’s handball team was playing a match at a European Championship in Bulgaria.
With regards to the fine, the European Handball Federation (EHF) stated that the disciplinary committee was dealing with a case of inappropriate clothing. And that is because the women’s handball team wearing shorts did not meet the Athlete Uniform Regulations that are specifically defined in the International Handball Federation (IHF) Beach Handball Rules of the game.
As per the rules of the International Handball Federation women athletes – which includes Norway’s women’s team – should be wearing bikini bottoms with “a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg.” And on the sides, the bottoms that are worn can be no more than four inches. But this same rule does not apply to men. They are allowed to wear shorts four inches above the knee.
Norwegian Handball Federation (NHF) came out in support of Norway’s women’s handball team. They stated on their social media that they were proud of the stance the Norwegian women players had taken against such controversial and much-criticized rule. The NHF wrote, “We at NHF stand behind you and support you. Together we will continue to fight to change the rules for clothing so that players can play in the clothes they are comfortable with.”
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Norway’s women’s handball team wore the shorts on purpose. Because they wanted to draw attention to this unjustified and hypocritical nature of the rule that women have to face. One of the Norwegian handball players, Martine Welfler said, “I don’t see why we can’t play in shorts. With so much body shaming and stuff like that these days, you should be able to wear a little bit more when you play.”
And it is not just Norway’s women’s handball team facing such unjustified rules. There are so many sports rules that are different for men and women. And they are inappropriate and hypocritical in nature. These rules highlight the double standards that go along with sports and women players.
