Female athletes have option of more body cover in beach volleyball at London 2012 Olympic Games
It has recently been revealed that the female athletes who will be taking part in the beach volleyball events of the upcoming London 2012 Olympic Games will now have the option of wearing clothes that are more covering.
Previously, women athletes playing beach volleyball in Olympic events were supposed to play wearing bikinis; however, they will now have the choice to make a show of their skills at the Games while wearing tops with long sleeves as well as shorts.
The flexibility in clothing for women in beach volleyball has been given by the International Federation of Volleyball (FIVB). The option will not only be available to female athletes in the Olympic events, rather, it will be made the rule in all FIVB beach
volleyball tournaments.
Richard Baker, who is the spokesman of the FIVB, expressed himself on the matter by making the following statements, “Some countries for religious and cultural reasons required more flexibility. This has now been implemented for all FIVB tournaments... The
decision just gives them (the athletes) that greater choice.”
According to the rules of the FIVB, the female beach volleyball athletes will now be able to wear “shorts of a maximum length of three centimeters (1.18 inches) above the knee, and sleeved or sleeveless tops.”
The beach volleyball event at the Olympic Games for women will be played at the Horse Guards Parade near Buckingham Palace at a location that has been specifically made to facilitate the sport as well as the spectators who will be viewing it.
The women’s beach volleyball Olympic event will take place on July 28. On the other hand, the London 2012 Olympic Games are scheduled to commence from July 27 and last until August 12.
Out of all the potential countries that may qualify for the remaining spots to participate in London 2012 Olympic Games, the countries that would be most inclined to adopt the new clothing option include Morocco, Algeria and Egypt.
According to Baker, the countries belonging to the African Federation expressed a need to provide their female beach volleyball athletes with more cover in their sports uniform.
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