Women's beach handball team fined for shorts deemed 'too long'

The Olympics just got underway in Tokyo and already controversies are brewing.

The Norwegian women’s beach handball team has been fined the equivalent of $2,300 CDN for refusing to play in bikini bottoms during a game in the sport’s Euro 2021 tournament by the European Handball Association's Disciplinary Commission.

NBC News is reporting the team wore thigh-length elastic shorts during their bronze medal match against Spain in Bulgaria on Sunday in part to protest against the regulation bikini-bottom design that has been called “embarrassing,” by the sport's Norwegian federation president.

The fine was for 'improper clothing,' currently male players are allowed to play in tank tops and shorts no longer than 4 inches above the knee, while women are required to wear midriff-baring tops and bikini bottoms “with a close fit and cut on an upward angle toward the top of the leg” and a maximum side width of 4 inches.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Beachhåndballjentene?? (@norwaybeachhandballwomen)

One of the players indicated the team had petitioned to wear the longer shorts from the start of the tournament, but they were threatened by the EHA with a fine or disqualification.

The players decided on their own to 'just do it' in Sunday's bronze medal game, "it was very spontaneous. We thought, 'let's just do it now, and then see what happens,'" player Katinka Haltvik told Norwegian broadcaster NRK.

-with files from NBC