orway’s beach handball team have been fined £1,295 for wearing shorts instead of bikini bottoms at the European Beach Handball Championships.

The European Handball Federation (EHF) said it had imposed the fine because of a case of “improper clothing”.

Norway’s players wore shorts instead of bikini bottoms during a bronze medal match against Spain in Varna, Bulgaria.

Norway’s Handball Federation (NHF) had already stated it would pay if their players were fined.

An EHF statement said a disciplinary commission had imposed a fine of “150 euros per player, for a total of 1,500 euros”.

It added that Norway had played with shorts that are “not according to the athlete uniform regulations defined in the IHF [International Handball Federation] beach handball rules of the game.”

Kare Geir Lio, the head of NHF, had told news agency AFP any penalty would be paid but added: “It should be a free choice within a standardised framework.

“The most important thing is to have equipment that athletes are comfortable with.”