The Norwegian national team caused a stir during Sunday’s match for third place in the European Championship, in which they competed with Spain.
–
The players entered the match in elastic shorts to protest against the regulation of the International Handball Federation, which instructs players to wear short tank tops revealing the belly and the lower part of the bikini with a very precisely defined cut.
–
“It’s not suitable clothes for playing on the sand,” argued Kåre Geir Lio, president of the Norwegian Handball Association, adding that at home, Norwegian handball players are allowed to play in whatever they want, just like men.
–
The International Handball Federation is much friendlier to men’s players. It allows them to play in long tank tops and shorts that end a maximum of 10 centimeters above the knees.
–
Threat of exclusion
The Norwegian women’s national team complained about the double meter before the start of the championship, but the organizers threatened to exclude it from the tournament or impose a fine.
–
the norwegian women’s beach handball team was fined 1500 euros for wearing the equivalent of bike shorts in their game instead of the MANDATORY bikini bottoms. they said they felt unnecessarily sexualised
comparison of the men and women’s uniforms. both mandatory pic.twitter.com/Di05FQMZrX
— nikki ♥ (@antiromanticmyg) July 21, 2021
–
The Norwegians therefore decided to demonstratively express their disagreement during Sunday’s match.
–
“It was very spontaneous. We said to ourselves: ‘Let’s do it now and see what happens,’ “one of the representatives, Katinka Halvitková, described Norwegian television NRK.
–
Dear @ihf_info. ????????♀️
Can you please stop the forced bikini nonsense at your beach handball games?
It is embarrassing, disgraceful and sexist.
You are ruining both the sport and your own reputation.Best Regards,
Lene Westgaard-Halle
Member of Parliament– Lene Westgaard-Halle (@LeneWestgaard) July 14, 2021
–
Their gesture garnered a wave of support among the handball community and on social networks. People wondered how it is possible for the international federation to force players to get in bikinis when they don’t want to.
–
Norwegian officials hope that in the coming months they will be able to establish shorts with the international federation as an officially recognized outfit for beach handball.
—
