Authors-choice: Hope & Revival

US pop star Pink has offered to pay the fines given to the Norwegian women’s beach handball team back in 2021. The team was fined for wearing shorts like the men’s team instead of bikini bottoms. The Norwegian women’s beach handball team was given a fine of 1,500 euros for “improper clothing” at the European Beach Handball Championships last week. The women’s team wore shorts like their male counterparts, rather than bikini bottoms. In response, US singer Pink took to Twitter to say: “I’m very proud of the Norwegian female beach handball team for protesting sexist rules about their uniform” and also added “I’ll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up.”

The European Handball Federation fined the Norway team for its choice of kit in a match against Spain in Bulgaria. They said the fine was issued because the players’ shorts were “not according to the athlete uniform regulations”.

The Norwegian Handball Federation announced last week that it was prepared to pay the fines. They also went on to say that it should be “a free choice within a standardized framework”. As for Pink’s offer to pay the fine, the team expressed their gratitude towards the singer saying “Wow! Thank you so much for the support,” in an Instagram story.

Pink is a singer from the US famous for hits such as Get the Party Started and Cover Me In Sunshine.

Former tennis champion Billie Jean King was among those noting how the men’s teams wear shorts. “The sexualization of women athletes must stop,” she stated on Twitter.

Bath University handball club said the fines were “absolutely outrageous”. They also went on to note how the rules around bikinis could be putting off women from taking up the sport.

Source BBC