From the drama-filled world of Badminton:

An attempt by badminton's governing body to force professional female players to wear skirts or dresses has been condemned as "a regressive and damaging attempt to sex up the game" by Hugh Robertson, the minister for sport.

The Badminton World Federation says the dress code is necessary to make women athletes appear more feminine, thereby reviving flagging interest in the sport from fans and corporate sponsors.

...
The new dress code - formulated in consultation with Octagon, an international marketing firm - states that women can still wear shorts or long pants for cultural and religious reasons - as long as they are worn underneath a dress or skirt.

I really don't think the outfits are the reason nobody's interested in badminton. Granted, I've never spent much time (or any) watching a badminton match, but it seems like it'd be a less exciting version of tennis, which is already dead boring.

The Federation attempt at explaining is a contradiction in itself. While denying they're trying to use sex to promote the sport, they complain that nobody's watching cause the women are wearing baggy clothing and dressing too masculine.

Paisan Rangsikitpho, the US deputy president of the Badminton World Federation - which has only two female members on its 25-member board - denies the new ruling is "an attempt to use sex to promote the sport".

"We just want them to look feminine and have a nice presentation so women will be more popular," he said. "Interest is declining. Some women compete in oversize shorts and long pants and appear baggy, almost like men.

"Hardly anybody is watching [the sport]," he added. "TV ratings are down. We want to build them up to where they should be. They play quite well. We want them to look nicer on the court and have more marketing value for themselves. I'm surprised we got a lot of criticism."

And this bit is particularly priceless.

[William Kings, spokesman for Badminton England,] said, however, that UK badminton had a "dilemma" over the issue. He pointed to the support for the new dress code from Nora Perry, a former world doubles champion from England and member of the council of the world governing body.

Kings said of Perry that "the problem is that although she always used to play in a skirt, she was a very attractive woman player while lots of the opponents of this action come from those not quite as fortunate in the good-looks stakes".

I keep reading that and trying to figure out how he thinks that's ok to say.