Yesterday, some media outlets reported declarations from an Australian Beach Volleyball woman player together with comments from an Australian promoter about the FIVB beach volleyball uniform regulations for the Olympic Games. According to these persons, ‘the FIVB could face player protest over the ruling that women players have to wear skimpy bikinis during Olympic competition.’.
To cut the polemic short, the FIVB reminds to whom it may concern that the beach volleyball uniforms regulations for the Olympic Games include the possibility to wear either a two-piece or an one-piece suit. This regulation has already been applied to the Atlanta Games in 1996 and
will of course also apply to the Sydney 2000 Games. For the Australian Olympics, some apparel manufacturers have already developed special clothes for playing in cold weather conditions.
Moreover, the FIVB delegate of any FIVB event including the Olympic Games can allow the players to wear adapted outfits like tights or tracksuits in case of especially cold weather.
The information released yesterday by some agencies is not correct as the FIVB is now allowing a longer width for the women’s briefs and longer shorts for the men’s uniforms. Actually, during the World Council meeting held last September at the FIVB Lausanne headquarters, the players’ representatives for men and women and the FIVB reached an agreement to respect the athletes’ concerns on this subject, and the regulation has been relaxed.
The FIVB regulation on Beach Volleyball uniforms, applying only to top-level FIVB international competitions mainly played by professionals, is meant to give a consistent and specific image to this sport which – as the name says it – comes from the beach.
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FIVB – FEDERATION INTERNATIONALE DE VOLLEYBALL
Communication Department – Contact: Carlos Sanchez
Av. de la Gare 12, 1001 Lausanne – Switzerland
Tel.: +41.21.345.3535 – Fax. +41.21.345.3545
E-mail: communication@fivb.ch – Website: http://www.fivb.org