When Norway’s beach handball team was fined $2,000 by the European Handball Federation for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms earlier this year, the move sparked international outcry.
A petition by an Australian woman living in Norway, Talitha Stone, calling for the International Handball Federation (IHF) to “drop this harmful rule” received 61,000 signatures.
Singer Pink offered to pay the Norweigan team's fine in July, tweeting she was proud of the women for "protesting the very sexist rules about their 'uniform'".
The IHF has now reversed the requirement for female players to wear bikini bottoms with “a close fit” and “cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg”.
Speaking with SBS News, Australian beach handball players said they were “excited” that the IHF had scrapped the ‘outdated’ rule.
Madeleine McAfee has been playing the sport for nine years and said she had felt “constant pressure to look good in the bikini bottoms.”
“[I] would be hard on myself if I thought I had too much cellulite,” she said.
“It didn't necessarily promote the best performance-focused mindset.”
McAfee said the new rules would allow female athletes to focus on their performance rather than what they look like in their uniforms.
“When you are playing sport at any level, you should not have to be thinking about whether a camera is going to capture your private parts or how unflattering you may look in the footage,” she said.
Previously, Australian female beach handball players could wear shorts, but only in domestic tournaments.
However, the new rules still come with a gender divide, with requirements for women’s pants to be “short and tight” while male players are permitted to have “longer” pants “if not too baggy”.
While McAfee said she’s grateful to the IHF for the new changes, she’d like to see the organisation adopt the same uniform options as volleyball.
“Volleyball gives the options of the short bike pants, short-sleeved shirts, singlets, crop tops, long tights, and also long sleeve tops,” she said.
“Hopefully these uniform amendments will promote inclusivity and encourage people to join the sport.”
Australian beach handball player Ana Medjed said she was “extremely happy” that the IHF had listened to female players and given them the option to wear shorts.
"Those previous rules are simply archaic and they have no place in any sport. Female elite athletes deserve a choice and deserve to be comfortable whilst performing," she said.
Speaking with , Medjed said competing in a bikini opened athletes up to sexual harassment and inappropriate comments from the general public.
Ana Medjed supports more uniform options for beach handball players. Source: Handball Australia
“From inappropriate photos to internet memes to jokes and comments – one way or another we have all experienced some form of being objectified or sexualised,” she said.
“With rules such as women ‘must compete in a bikini bottom with a certain number of centimetres’ or else, it leads us to feel that male players are there to compete for their athletic ability and skills, whilst female elite athlete players are there to put on a show.”
While Medjed was happy to see shorts introduced, she said by “taking” away the option of bikini bottoms, the IHF had removed athletes’ choices to perform in what they are comfortable wearing.
“We felt that the bikini is not the problem – it was the lack of choice that athlete females in beach handball [had],” Medjed said.
Medjed said she hopes players can work with the IHF to improve the uniform policy by adding more choices for players.
“I feel that there could have been a further step taken by the IHF to include more uniform choices and more gender and religious-based choices,” she said.
“I hope that in the future and with feedback, IHF will add this uniform choice in the policy and seek to include those athletes that at present will be excluded.”
SBS News contacted the International Handball Federation for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.
