KITZBÜHEL, Austria — The latest front in nefarious performance enhancement in sports: underwear.

A fit of confusion has spread through competitive skiing in recent days after a Slovene skier who finished second at a major event in Austria was accused of wearing plastic undergarments that might have given her an unfair aerodynamic advantage. The Swiss ski federation lodged a complaint with the sport’s governing body, and an examination of the skier’s underwear was conducted. Fruit of the Loom these were not.

A ruling was made over the weekend: the clothing was permissible, though officials advised female skiers not to wear it because of health concerns. Apparently the amount of plastic in the underwear might prevent a skier’s skin from breathing properly.

The ruling, however, did not extinguish the dispute; it has merely moved to the men’s side of professional skiing.

The issue has stoked intense debate this week ahead of a World Cup competition here in this village in the Central Alps. Gunther Hujara, the men’s race director for the sport’s world governing body, known as FIS, waved around a piece of blue material at a meeting with coaches, saying: “If we see something like this, we will not hesitate to disqualify immediately. We do not go through a test, we disqualify. And then you, or somebody who wears it, has to prove that what he wears does not endanger athletes’ health.”