admin Following last week’s ruling by swimming’s top body FINA, the International Hockey Federation (IHF) has also joined a raft of governing bodies who are reviewing their policy addressing the involvement of transgender athletes in women’s sport.
FINA, on Sunday, voted to ban any sports person who has been through male puberty in their adolescence from elite women’s competitions. They are also focussing on the task to create a working group to establish an “open” category for transgender swimmers in some events as part of its new policy.
A spokesperson for the IHF, on Wednesday, stated that they are in the process of conducting a review of our transgender policy. “It is a current work in progress in tandem consultation with the International Olympic Committee.” World Athletics, soccer’s governing body FIFA and World Netball are all currently in the process of reviewing their policies for the inclusion of transgenders. This comes following the verdict of FINA, which is considered by far the strictest by any Olympic sports body. Rugby league banned transgender players from women’s international competition until further notice on Tuesday, while the International Cycling Union (UCI) last week tightened its eligibility rules
There has been a general outcry by several LGBT members. LGBT rights group Athlete Ally claimed FINA’s new eligibility criteria was “discriminatory” and “harmful”, while transgender cyclist Veronica Ivy declared the policy as “unscientific”.
Supporters who advocate for transgender inclusion argue that enough studies have not yet been conducted on the impact that transition has on physical performance. This means that elite athletes are often physical exceptional cases in any situation.
In November, the IOC declared that no athlete should be excluded from competition on the grounds of a perceived unfair advantage, while leaving it up to sports federations to decide whether there is a need to balance between inclusion and fairness and where that point lay.
“If push comes to shove, and if it is a judgement between inclusion and fairness, we will always take the side of fairness. This is something that is non-negotiable for me,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in announcing his organisation’s review.
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