Women give Blatter short shrift LONDON, England (Reuters) --FIFA President Sepp Blatter drew condemnation from women's sports figures on Friday for saying the future of women's football could rest with tighter shorts. Blatter's remarks, printed on Sunday by Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick, were translated by Britain's Guardian newspaper on Friday. "Come on, let's get women to play in different and more feminine garb than the men," Blatter told Sonntagsblick in an interview. Asked if he meant short skirts, Blatter said: "No, but in tighter shorts for example. In volleyball women wear different clothes from the men. "Beautiful women play football nowadays, excuse me for saying so," he added. Blatter said women already played with a lighter ball, making the game more feminine. "Why not in fashion?" he asked. Helen Donohue of the Women's Sports Foundation told Reuters: "This comment from the most powerful man in football -- it's belittling and an awful shame. Future is female "In the past, he's been quoted as saying 'the future is female' and he's been a great supporter of the game. "Hopefully, he'll be more than embarrassed." England goalkeeper Pauline Cope told the Guardian: "He doesn't know what he is talking about," adding that women did not play with a lighter ball. "It's completely irresponsible for a man in a powerful position to make comments like this." Fulham manager Marieanne Spacey told the newspaper: "Surely it's about skill and tactical ability first and how people look second." But FIFA spokesman Andreas Herren said the translated remarks did not capture the spirit of the original interview. Herren said Blatter had talked about the need for women's football to attract different sponsors, possibly from the fashion and cosmetics industries, rather than depend on sponsors from the men's game. Donohue said it was a shame that it took controversy to put women's football -- which FIFA estimates is played by 30 million worldwide -- on sports pages. "Within the next ten years, on a global basis you'll see as many women playing football as men," Donohue said. "That's what we want to talk about... about the technical ability and about the development of it in this country, not how tight the shorts are. "(But) we do respect the fact that it's a commercial game. Whether you're David Beckham or Marieanne Spacey, we're not naive enough to think that it's not a factor as the game develops."
Mia Hamm is definitely a lot sexier when she's all sweaty and dirty...must be the pheremones (sp?)...
We should go back to the way the Ancient Greeks did it and revel in the beauty of the naked human body... but only for women's sports.
I would rather see Mia Hamm take the place of the tall long-nosed ugly woman on the far left of the bottom picture.
Hey, I saw a bit of the Women's World Cup and I don't recall any of the players on the Brazilian team looking like this.
I find it ironic that the players aren't allowed to take off their shirts in the moment of victory as a celebration, but they're talkin about sexier uniforms? BAH! Although honestly, none of the guys at our high school came to the volleyball games to watch the game.... they came for the chicks in spandex.
You know, I think it'll be the best move they'll ever make, changing the uniforms of women's sports league to more feminine versions. I think the WNBA should do that as well. WNBA players dress just like the men, with the super baggy shorts and oversized shirts. They look quite unattractive. I'll bet you it'll work like magic filling more seats, especially because there are already attractive stars in the league who'll be perfect for more feminine uniforms, such as Sue Bird and Lisa Leslie. I think Blatter's idea can save the WUSA as well. Check out Lauren Jackson in her WNBA uniform: And in her Australian League uniform:
It's time we stop masculinizing female athletes' uniforms, because they are not men and should not dress like men. They don't play at the level that men do, so if they want to be commercially successful, they have to give men (the majority of sports fans willing to shell out big bucks for sporting events) better reasons to watch professional female athletes. I'll bet you that the WNBA will be in trouble soon unless they find some way to fill some of those empty seats with hormone-driven men. Several NBA teams have already bailed themselves out of their WNBA counterparts.
I don't mind if men come to the games to watch the hot female athletes... there have always been women who watched men's games for the exact same reasons. However, keep it fair. First, make sure they're still comfortable to play in and don't restrict movement (and aren't some tiny little cut that is only flattering to people with naturally skinny/ prepubescent body builds). Also - turnabout is fair play. How come they want us to dress like the Australian League, yet the guys' uniforms have only been getting baggier for the past 20 years? We can't see anything that way! (and don't even get me started on swimming, with those full-length bodysuits...)
Sports is entertainment, and if people want to come to gawk at athletes so be it! I know plenty of women who love baseball and football strictly to look a men's behinds (and I'm not knocking them for it - guilty as charged ).
