Norwegian women’s beach handball team fined for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms

The European Handball Federation (EHF) on Monday issued fines against the Norwegian women’s beach handball team over its decision to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms.

“The Disciplinary Commission at the Beach Handball EURO 2021 has dealt with a case of improper clothing. In the bronze medal game against Spain on Sunday the team of Norway played with shorts that are not according to the Athlete Uniform Regulations defined in the IHF Beach Handball Rules of the Game,” the EHF said in a statement.

The team will be fined 1,500 euros — 150 euros for each player.

The Norwegian beach volleyball girls wanted to play in these shorts instead of in bikini bottoms which they found too revealing but were threatened by the EC tournament organizer with fines if they wore anything covering more than 10cm of their butts pic.twitter.com/LHSxXz91CM

— Tradia (@amalieskram) July 15, 2021

As Insider notes, the EHF’s regulations require players to wear bikini bottoms when they are competing.

“Women should wear a bikini where the top should be a tight-fitting sports bra with deep openings at the arms. The bottom must not be more than ten centimeters on the sides,” the regulations state.

In comparison, the regulation for men state that players must wear “tight-fitting tank tops” and shorts that are “not too baggy” and “10 centimeters above the kneecap.”

One of the team’s players, Katinka Haltvik, told Norwegian media that the team’s decision to wear shorts was “very spontaneous” and that it “felt threatened by the regulations,” Insider reports.

“People cheered on us for going in front of several teams and taking the brunt. Not all teams can afford to pay such fines,” Haltvik said, adding that handball “should be an inclusive sport, not an exclusive one.”