Pink offers to pay bikini bottom fines for Norway beach handball team – National

The European Handball Federation (EHF) simply gave Pink a purpose to become involved.

The singer introduced over the weekend that she’s keen to cowl a 1,500-Euro effective issued to Norway‘s seashore handball staff after the ladies defied the principles and wore athletic shorts as an alternative of bikini bottoms at a match earlier this month.

Pink tweeted that she is “VERY proud” of the staff for “PROTESTING THE VERY SEXIST RULES ABOUT THEIR ‘uniform.’” She additionally known as for the EHF to be fined for sexism.

“Good on ya, women,” she wrote. I’ll be blissful to pay your fines for you. Stick with it.”

The EHF had particularly rejected the Norwegians’ plans to put on shorts for the match, citing the uniform coverage that mandates bikini bottoms for all feminine athletes.

The ladies wore black bikini bottoms for his or her preliminary video games, however they switched into tight-fitting blue athletic shorts for his or her bronze-medal match in opposition to Spain, sparking cheers from the group after they hit the sand.

The EHF issued 150-Euro fines for every of the staff’s 10 gamers after the match, citing the official rulebook’s uniform tips.

Girls “should put on bikini bottoms,” in keeping with the Worldwide Handball Federation guidelines. The bottoms should have “a detailed match and reduce on an upward angle towards the highest of the leg,” the principles say, whereas the facet width “have to be of a most of 10 centimetres.”

The Norwegians stood by their act of defiance and the story quickly gained worldwide consideration final week — significantly after the effective was issued.

“We’re very happy with these women who … raised their voice and instructed us that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” the Norwegian Handball Federation stated in a Fb publish after the incident.

“Thanks a lot for all of the assist,” the ladies wrote in an Instagram publish final week. “We actually admire all of the love we now have obtained.”

The bikini controversy erupted simply earlier than the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Video games, the place a number of incidents have additionally provoked dialogue about feminine athletes’ apparel.

Over the weekend, for instance, Germany’s gymnasts debuted a new-look unitard that covers extra of the feminine athletes’ our bodies than the normal leotard. The German Gymnastics Federation launched the outfits earlier this 12 months as a part of a plan to battle “sexualization in gymnastics.”

Welsh Paralympian Olivia Breen discovered herself on the coronary heart of one other debate final week, after the long-jumper was criticized for carrying briefs that have been too brief.

“I’ve been carrying the identical fashion dash briefs for a few years and they’re particularly designed for competing in,” she stated in a statement forward of the Video games, after going through criticism from a feminine official within the U.Ok. “I’ll hopefully be carrying them in Tokyo,” she wrote.

The Worldwide Olympic Committee has the ultimate say over applicable uniforms at this 12 months’s video games, in keeping with the Olympic Constitution.