World3 min(s) read
Published 15:32 15 Jul 2026 GMT
New guidelines that lay out camera angles to avoid sexualising women’s sports have been released by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and European Athletics.
The new regulations listed in a paper titled: Raising the Bar: Guidelines for respectful media coverage in women's athletics explain how at least 13 specific camera angles could sexualize and objectify women’s bodies by broadcasting them in compromising positions, often unnecessarily compromising positions.
Addressing the new guidelines, Glen Killane, Executive Director for EBU Sport, said: "The sexualization of women athletes through selective camera angles and editing choices continues to be a significant concern across many sports broadcasts."
"Lingering shots on bodies, low-angle cameras that capture revealing views, and excessive slow-motion replays that serve no technical or storytelling purpose are among the issues observed in the media coverage of women’s athletics competitions today."
The guidelines include illustrations demonstrating what the broadcasting body deems to be “positive” and “negative” angles. The angles bosses have labelled as negative include women being bent over in front of the camera, using low angles and filming them or focusing on body parts, particularly when they are not partaking.
However, the guidelines state: "This is not a list of restrictions. Across high jump, pole vault, horizontal jumps and running events, the report demonstrates how the most compromising shots can be avoided with no loss of storytelling or visual quality."
Unsurprisingly, since the new rules were released, the backlash waged against them on social media has stunned the sporting world.
They have become the centre of a tense discussion and the subject of thousands of crude jokes about women's sport.
One misogynistic X user said: “You basically killed any interest in female sports.”
Another chimed in with a similar sentiment, writing: “Volleyball viewership is gonna go down by 90%.”
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A third made a suggestion that incorrectly shifted the blame from men to the women themselves, saying: “Or just have women wear some clothes when they compete, is it really necessary for women to constantly just wear underwear when playing sport?”
In response, another commenter pointed out how deep-rooted the casual sexism within women’s sports is, noting: “Actually, without exception, the sports governing bodies REQUIRE women to wear those skimpy outfits.”
In support of the new guidelines, retired Great Britain pole vaulter Holly Bradshaw told GB News: "I first-hand have received social media abuse and witnessed inappropriate videos online of myself and colleagues when slow-motion content of us competing is captured.
"Athletes want to enjoy themselves doing the sport they love without feeling uncomfortable or anxious about the footage being shown live," she added.
