Kuala Lumpur, May 8 (AFP) Malaysia's conservative Islamic party has urged badminton players to boycott top tournaments after the sport's Kuala Lumpur-based world body said it would compel female players to wear skirts.
The new rule was briefly deferred after causing an outcry among players and officials, but the Badminton World Federation (BWF) said Wednesday that women shuttlers would have to wear skirts or dresses from June 1.
The opposition Pan-Malaysia Islamic Party (PAS) said the rule would discriminate against Muslim women badminton players by preventing them from taking part in top-level competition.
"PAS considers the rule ... discriminatory as it will prevent Muslim players from competing, since exposing their flesh is against their beliefs," a youth chief in the party, Kamaruzaman Mohama, said.