The Worldwide Handball Federation has up to date its guidelines so that ladies will now not be required to play in bikini bottoms, responding to months of stress from feminine gamers and coaches who described the uniform necessities as sexist.
Based on the brand new guidelines, which had been revealed Oct. 3 and can go into impact Jan. 1, “Feminine athletes should put on quick tight pants with an in depth match.” The earlier guidelines for seaside handball required girls to put on bikini bottoms “with an in depth match and reduce on an upward angle towards the highest of the leg.” The perimeters of the bikini bottoms couldn’t be greater than 4 inches (10.16 centimeters).
The IHF, the game’s governing physique, didn’t present a purpose for the change.
In July, Norway’s girls’s handball group was fined €1,500 (about $1,740) for competing in a championship sport in shorts as an alternative of bikini bottoms, a penalty that drew widespread criticism. Even the singer Pink weighed in, saying that she was pleased with the group for protesting the foundations and providing to pay the effective.
The effective towards the Norwegian group was delivered simply because the Tokyo Olympics had been beginning, including to a dialogue in regards to the double requirements affecting feminine athletes at each degree of competitors in handball and throughout sports activities together with gymnastics, badminton and tennis. In seaside handball, males are allowed to put on shorts so long as 4 inches above their knees so long as they’re “not too dishevelled.”
After groups in Europe and American Samoa pressured the IHF to alter its guidelines, the group’s president, Hassan Moustafa, stated in August that it was probably that new guidelines could be established.
Moustafa stated in a press release that the federation, which relies in Basel, Switzerland, had required feminine gamers to put on bikini bottoms as a result of these had been the foundations for seaside volleyball, which is performed on the identical floor.
Kare Geir Lio, the pinnacle of the Norwegian Handball Federation, stated Monday that he was pleased with Norway’s group for initiating the change. The ladies, he stated, selected the fitting second to say, “Sufficient is sufficient.”
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