Pink offers to pay fine for Norwegian women’s beach handball team who wore shorts instead of bikini bottoms to compete

• Pink offered to pay the fine for Norway's Women's Beach Handball team, and said the European Handball Federation "should be fined for sexism."
• Norway's Women's Beach Handball team was fined 1,500 euros for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms at a tournament.
• The Norwegian Handball Association also voiced its support for the team, saying it will fight against the rules.
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Singer Pink offered on Sunday to pay the Norwegian women's beach handball team's fine for not wearing bikini bottoms and instead showing up to a tournament in shorts.

In a tweet, Pink supported the team's protest against "sexist" guidelines, and wrote: "The European handball federation SHOULD BE FINED FOR SEXISM," adding: "I'll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up."

-P!nk (@Pink) July 25, 2021

The team turned up in shorts during its match against Spain for the bronze medal at the Euro 2021 tournament on July 18 and was fined 1,500 euros ($1,766) over what the European Handball Federation called "a case of improper clothing."

According to the International Handball Federation, male athletes are allowed to wear shorts that end about four inches above the kneecap. In contrast, female athletes must wear midriff-baring tops and bikini bottoms "with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg."

Tennis icon Billie Jean King also spoke out against the fine, tweeting that "The sexualization of women athletes must stop."

The Norwegian team had petitioned from the start of the tournament to wear shorts, Norwegian Handball Federation President Kåre Geir Lio told NBC News. But the European Handball Federation had threatened the team with a fine or disqualification.

The team, however, persisted and showed up for the games in shorts - which they train in - instead of the mandated bikini bottoms.

In an Instagram post, the Norwegian Handball Association voiced its support for the women's team. "We will continue to fight to change the international regulations for clothing so that players can play in the clothes they are comfortable with," the team wrote.

A post shared by Norges Håndballforbund (@norgeshandballforbund)

Meanwhile, Talitha Stone, who calls herself an "Aussie sports-loving woman living in Norway," started a petition last week to the International Handball Federation on Change.org to "Drop the fine and let them wear shorts!" It has been signed more than 15,000 times as of the time of writing.