Sports associations across Europe have urged the presidents of the European and International handball federations to quit, alleging they practice "blatant sexism" by insisting women athletes wear bikini bottoms, reports The Guardian.
The Norwegian women's beach handball team was fined $1760 after wearing shorts against the policy during a match against Spain in July. The Norwegian Handball Federation, which registered a complaint against the bikini rule, paid the fine.
According to the European Handball Federation (EHF), the Norwegian team was disciplined for "improper clothing." The EHF said that it will have a discussion with International Handball Federation (IHF) about players' uniforms at its upcoming meeting later this month.
From The Guardian:
According to the IHF rule, female players playing beach handball must wear "tops and bikini bottoms and eventual accessories", while male players wear "tank tops and shorts and eventual accessories".
"This is a blatantly sexist custom that needs to be eliminated," said Luisa Rizzitelli, the president of Assist, an Italian association that promotes and defends the rights of female athletes.
Assist is one of seven associations, including the Alice Milliat Foundation in France and Discover Football in Germany, that have written to the IHF president, Hassan Moustafa, and his EHF counterpart, Michael Wiederer, calling on them to resign.
In the letter, they wrote that both federations "have established an embarrassing point of no return regarding their image as international sports institutions".
[image: By Marcus Cyron, CC BY-SA 3.0]
