Pink offers to pay fines for Norwegian women's beach handball team that refused to play in bikinis
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) -- American singer and songwriter Pink has thrown her support behind a European women's handball team and is offering to pay the fines they were punished with for not playing in bikini bottoms at a recent championship game.
The Norwegian women's beach handball team was fined last week for refusing to play in the revealing uniforms during a European championship game. Instead, the team wore elastic shorts to protest the regulation bikini bottoms.
The European Handball Association fined the team 150 euros per player - a total of 1,500 euros, or about $1,700 - for "improper clothing."
Pink tweeted her support for the team over the weekend, saying she was proud of the team for "protesting the very sexist rules about their 'uniform.'"
"The European handball federation SHOULD BE FINED FOR SEXISM," she wrote.
Pink also said in her tweet she'd be "happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up."
The singer then retweeted a response to her post pointing out how the men's handball team is allowed to wear long shorts and tank tops.
According to clothing guidelines from the International Handball Federation, men can wear shorts that are "not too baggy" but must be 10 centimeters above the kneecap. Meanwhile, the rules state women must wear bikini bottoms "with a closed fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg" with maximum side width of 10 centimeters.
The Norwegian Handball Association has also voiced support for the women's team. They tweeted last week, "together we will continue to fight to change the rules for clothing so that players can play in the clothes they are comfortable with."