Excessive zeal or bombastic diplomacy?
The question arises in this new controversy affecting the silted world of beach volleyball.
German beach volleyball stars Karla Borger and Julia Sude have announced that they will boycott a tournament in Qatar due to the bikini ban on the pitch.
But this measure does not appear in reality due to the Qatari organizers.
In any case, they claim not to have asked for it.
"We are there to do our work but we are prevented from wearing our work clothes", justified Karla Borger Sunday evening on the airwaves of German public radio Deutschlandfunk.
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A post shared by Karla Borger (@karlaborger)
“This is truly the only country and the only tournament where a government tells us how to do our job.
We criticize that, ”added the sportswoman, vice-world champion.
Qatar will host an International Beach Volleyball Federation (FIVB) tournament in March.
This is the first time that this small Gulf state has hosted such a FIVB women's tournament, after having organized a men's competition for seven years, and in 2019 the World Beach Games, where players were allowed to wear a swimsuit. bath.
The players were asked to wear T-shirts and long pants rather than the usual high-cut swimsuits, a decision motivated according to the International Beach Volleyball Federation by "respect for the culture and traditions of the host country".
Conversely, the Qatari Volleyball Federation (QVA), organizer of the tournament, assured in a statement that it had made no request in this direction.
Sportswomen welcome
“We want to make it clear that we did not specify in any way what the sportswomen were to wear at this event.
We fully respect the code of conduct decreed by the International Federation and have shown in the past at events organized in Qatar that sportswomen are free to wear the same outfits they wear in other countries ”, he added. she indicated.
"We want all sportswomen to feel welcome and at ease during this tournament which will be historic for Qatar", insisted the QVA.
In Spiegel magazine, Karla Borger insisted that while in normal times she was happy to "adapt to a country", the extreme heat in Qatar makes it necessary to wear a bikini.
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Her teammate Julia Sude noted that Qatar made exceptions for female athletes at the World Athletics Championships in Doha in 2019.
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A post shared by Julia Sude (@juliasudeofficial)
On Deutschlandfunk, Karla Borger questioned the relevance of designating Qatar as the host country of such a competition.
“We are wondering if there is really a need for a tournament to be held there,” she said.
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