Pink Wants to Pay Norwegian Handball Team Fines After Bikini Protest

Pink is offering to pay the fines of the Norwegian women’s beach handball team after they were penalized for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms during a recent match.

“I’m VERY proud of the Norwegian female beach handball team FOR PROTESTING THE VERY SEXIST RULES ABOUT THEIR ‘uniform,'” wrote Pink. “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.”

Last week, the Norwegian squad played against Spain at the European Beach Handball Championship in Bulgaria and chose to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms. This is technically a violation of the European Handball Federation’s rules and according to a statement from the EHF on July 19, the disciplinary commission fined each player on the team 150 euros (around $175) due to their “improper clothing.”

Fortunately, it sounds like they won’t have to worry about those fines thanks to Pink’s offer to pay for them.

The decision by the EHF was met with immediate backlash, as people were outraged that the team was being punished simply for wanting to wear shorts instead of bikini bottoms.

The pop singer is not the only person who has expressed their anger about the fines. The Norwegian Handball Federation publicly announced their support for the team and tennis legend Billie Jean King wrote on Twitter that “the sexualization of women athletes must stop” while noting that the men’s teams are allowed to wear shorts.

The Norwegian squad acknowledged the outpouring of support they have received in an Instagram post, writing that they were “overwhelmed by the attention and support from all over the world.”

“Thank you so much to all the people who support us and help spread the message! We really hope this will result in a change of this nonsense rule!”