Julia Sude during a tournament in Russia in the summer of 2019. -

Pavel Golovkin / AP / SIPA

The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) assured Tuesday evening that the bikinis, usual outfits for beach volleyball players, will not be banned during the Doha tournament in March, while the German pair Borger / Sude had announced their intention to boycott the tournament.

Qatar will host its first major women's beach volleyball tournament from March 8 to 12, after hosting a men's competition for seven years, and in 2019 the World Beach Games, where players were allowed to wear swimsuits.

The regulation finally updated

In a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday evening, the FIVB indicated that it was in contact with the Qatari Volleyball Federation (QVA), which confirmed to it that there are no restrictions on the outfit of the players.

The controversy escalated after German star pair Karla Borger / Julia Sude decided on Monday to boycott the event, due to a ban on wearing bikinis on the pitch, with the players being forced to play a tee -shirts and long pants, outfit sometimes used in competition when the weather is less favorable.

The International Federation updated the tournament regulations on Tuesday evening, available online, and in particular article 10 concerning the players' outfits.

"Following discussions, the QVA confirmed on February 23 that there are no restrictions for the players, if they wish to wear the standard dress during the competition in Qatar".

"Free" to play in a bikini

The previous version of this article 10, dated February 16, stipulated that: “for women's outfits, in order to respect local culture and tradition, with the full support of sportswomen, it is expected that all participating women's teams use a short-sleeved tee to wear under the official women's tournament top and knee-length shorts, in training and in matches ”.

“During the competition in Doha, if players ask to wear the usual outfit, they will be free to do so,” said the FIVB in a statement to AFP.

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  • Volleyball

  • Bikini

  • Sport

  • Qatar

  • Sexism