Three-time Grammy Award-winning singer P!nk offered her support to the Norwegian women's beach handball team on Saturday, claiming it was subject to "sexism." The European Handball Federation fined Norway's squad €1,500 ($1,770) for wearing shorts instead of bikinis -- the EHF-mandated uniforms -- at last week's European Handball Championship in Bulgaria.
In a social media post Saturday, P!nk wrote she was "VERY proud" of the Norwegian team for protesting the EHF's "SEXIST" uniform rules and offered to pay the players' fines.
I’m VERY proud of the Norwegian female beach handball team FOR PROTESTING THE VERY SEXIST RULES ABOUT THEIR “uniform”. The European handball federation SHOULD BE FINED FOR SEXISM. Good on ya, ladies. I’ll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up.
— P!nk (@Pink) July 25, 2021
After facing significant backlash since the fine the EHF on Monday donated €1,500 to the Norwegian Handball Federation, what it describes as a "major international sports foundation which supports equality for women and girls in sports."
"The EHF acknowledges the position of the players involved and further steps towards change, in close coordination with the International Handball Federation, have been and are in motion," EHF president Michael Wiederer said in a statement. "We are very much aware of the attention the topic has received over the past days, and while changes cannot happen overnight, we are fully committed that something good comes out of this situation right now which is why the EHF has donated the fine for a good cause promoting equality in sports."
Despite the EHF's backtracking on the uniform rule, it did not rule out any future fines. The EHF claimed that, while it's doing the "utmost" to change its uniform regulations, final say lands with the International Handball Federation and only it can officially amend the rules.
