Pink offers to pay Norway's handball bikini fine
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The reading
Singer-songwriter Pink has got involved in a sexism row in the sport of beach handball. She has come to the aid of the Norwegian women's team after they were fined for not wearing bikini bottoms during the 2021 European Beach Handball Championships. The singer has offered to pay the fines handed out to Norway's competitors for wearing "improper clothing". Male competitors were allowed to wear shorts, but the women were required to wear bikinis. The European Handball Federation (EHF) fined the team $1,765 for not complying with the regulations. Pink took to Twitter and offered to pay the fine. She added that the EHF should be fined "for sexism".
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The Norwegian Handball Federation president said the bikinis were "not appropriate clothing for the activity when the women are playing in the sand". The team's request to wear shorts during the championships was turned down. Male players were allowed to play in sports shirts and shorts no longer than 10cm above the knee; while women were expected to wear midriff-baring tops and bikini bottoms "with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg". Norway's Minister of Culture called the discriminatory dress rule "antiquated" and "completely ridiculous". It questioned: "How many attitude changes are needed in the old-fashioned international patriarchy of sports?"
Sources:
- https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/26/sport/pink-norwegian-handball-fine-intl-scli-spt/index.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jul/26/pink-offers-to-pay-fines-for-norwegian-womens-beach-handball-team-sexist
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/pink-offers-to-cover-norwegian-women-s-beach-handball-team-fine-for-not-playing-in-bikinis/ar-AAMzFIL
