Qatar's strict and archaic rules governing how women dress, even for beach volleyball in the scorching desert heat, was enough for the German beach volleyball tandem of Karla Borger and Julia Sude to boycott the upcoming tournament hosted by Qatar. The German team would normally wear their standard bikini uniforms to deal with the high temperatures and be the most comfortable while competing. Qatar would rather they wear clothes that are not so revealing.
via Yahoo:
"We are there to do our job, but are being prevented from wearing our work clothes," Borger told radio station Deutschlandfunk on Sunday. "This is really the only country and the only tournament where a government tells us how to do our job – we are criticising that."
The Qatar Volleyball Association reacted to the news saying they are "committed to ensuring that all athletes are made to feel welcome and comfortable at next month's event."
"We would like to make clear that we are not making any demand on what athletes should wear at the event," a statement insisted.
Trying to play it both ways the Qatar Volleyball Association is "requesting", not "demanding", that the players use their international uniforms, which are basically bikinis with slightly more coverage. Sounds like a contradiction of their ensuring the German women's team feels "welcome and comfortable". Whatever, Qatar. No one's buying that.
If you're really interested in the dimensions of the men's and women's volleyball wear here is the FIVB uniform guide from Oct. 2019
"We are asking whether it's necessary to hold a tournament there at all," Borger added.
