England women switch to blue shorts to evade menstrual period stains

The England women’s team will swap their white shorts for blue, the Football Association (FA) said on Monday, after players voiced concerns about playing in white on their period.

While the FA did not provide a reason for the switch in its media release, England forward Beth Mead had said last year that the team had spoken to official kit manufacturer Nike about a potential change because white shorts were “not practical when it’s the time of the month”.

European champions England will wear blue shorts for both their home and away kits for this month’s friendlies against Brazil and Australia and at the Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to Aug. 20.

Women’s teams at Manchester City and West Bromwich Albion have since switched to navy and burgundy shorts, respectively, while the Ireland women’s rugby team also announced a change to navy blue shorts last month.

The issue of women athletes wearing white clothing was also brought up at last year’s Wimbledon tennis championships when female players spoke about the anxiety of being forced to wear white on their period.

The grasscourt Grand Slam will make an exception to its strict all-white dress code and allow female players to wear dark coloured undershorts from this year’s tournament.

-Reuters