Norway’s women’s volleyball team has won the fight against the fine they were handed for refusing to wear their skimpy “sexist” uniforms during this year’s summer Olympics in Japan.
The team refused to wear the bikini bottoms during the games and instead wore shorts to play. This resulted in a fine of $1,770 for breaking uniform regulations. However, the women were unrepentant, saying that there is “no good reason” that female volleyball players are forced to wear skimpy uniforms.
(Norway faces Greece during the 2018 Women’s Beach Handball World Championships in Kazan, Russia. Maxim Tumanov / Sputnik via AP)
In the wake of the demands for an end to skimpy uniforms, the International Handball Federation has announced that it has changed its uniform regulations. It will now allow women to wear “short tight pants with a close fit” and a “body fit tank top” during competitions, according to NBC Sports.
The women felt the previous regulations were geared toward showing off their bodies to fans. The skimpy tops and revealing bottoms, they said, stood in stark contrast to the tank tops and longer shorts that male handball players are required to wear.
Norwegian Handball Federation President Kåre Geir Lio praised the changes saying that the new rules were a positive step toward combating gender inequality in the sport.
“I think it’s good for the game, but first of all, it’s good for the women, and it’s good for how we treat each other in sports,” Lio told NBC Sports.
(Getty Images)
The fine the Olympics levied on the Norwegian team this year outraged activists the world over.
The fine brought pop star Pink to offer to pay the team’s penalties in her support for their drive to eliminate the “sexist” costumes.
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