Beach volleyball in Doha: Qatar withdraws dress code for women

Icon: enlarge

Karla Borger and Julia Sude

Photo: 

Christian Charisius / picture alliance / dpa

There will be no dress code at the beach volleyball team's World Tour event.

As a spokeswoman for the volleyball world association FIVB, responsible for the series, confirmed to SPIEGEL, the Qatari organizers have withdrawn the originally planned restrictions on women's work clothes.

"After further discussions, the QVA has confirmed that there will be no restrictions for players to wear standard uniforms during the event in Doha if they so wish," a spokeswoman for the world association told SPIEGEL.

On Tuesday morning, the Qatar volleyball association denied the regulations - and thus contradicted the world association, which had already published them on its website, among others.

The association contradicted the representation of the world federation FIVB and the player organization IBVPA.

Both of them had explicitly confirmed the dress code to SPIEGEL.

In an email from the FIVB on February 17, it said that the dress code had been requested by the Qatari authorities concerned.

The IBVPA players' association said on the same day: "For women, clothing must go over the shoulders and down to the knees."

However, the international pressure seems to have become too great for the Qatari association.

On Tuesday evening, the world association said in response to a request from SPIEGEL: "The FIVB is firmly convinced that women's beach volleyball, like any other sport, should be judged on performance and commitment and not on the uniform." Tournament in Doha free to wear the standard uniform if you wish.

"The FIVB and QVA are united in their commitment to create an inviting, safe and inclusive event that allows athletes to give their best."

The dress code had received international attention since the weekend as a result of a SPIEGEL research.

With Karla Borger and Julia Sude, Germany's currently best team, in 16th place in the world, announced in SPIEGEL that it would not take part in the event.

"We don't want to support that," said Borger and Sude.

“It's not about wearing little or not.

The point is that we can't do our work in our work clothes, ”said Sude.

Beach volleyball is also "damn exhausting," said Borger.

The fact that judgments were obviously carried out with two different standards also caused anger.

At their 2019 World Championships in Doha, the athletes were allowed to enter the competitions in their usual short work clothes.

According to a written communication from the players' association to SPIEGEL, there was "an exception for athletics from the royal family".

Why the volleyball players did not get any at first remained open.

But now Qatar seems to have given in to the pressure.

Icon: The mirror