The World Athletics Council announced Thursday that it would bar certain transgender female athletes from participating in the organization’s sporting events.
In a release, the organization — which acts as the governing body for professional athletic track-and-field events — stated that its new rules would exclude any male-to-female transgender athletes who have been through male puberty from taking part in female World Rankings competitions.
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For relevant athletes already set to participate in unrestricted events, they must suppress their testosterone levels below a certain amount for six months before being eligible to compete again, the release shows.
“In terms of (differences in sexual developments) regulations, World Athletics has more than 10 years of research and evidence of the physical advantages that these athletes bring to the female category,” the release says. “However, there are currently no transgender athletes competing internationally in athletics and consequently no athletics-specific evidence of the impact these athletes would have on the fairness of female competition in athletics.”
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While the council said it wanted to prioritize “fairness and the integrity of the female competition before inclusion,” it agreed to set up a “Working Group” for 12 months to consult with experts and transgender athletes for further consideration on the issue.
“Decisions are always difficult when they involve conflicting needs and rights between different groups, but we continue to take the view that we must maintain fairness for female athletes above all other considerations,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. “We will be guided in this by the science around phyiscal performance and male advantage which will inevitably develop over the coming years.”
According to the organization, the new rules will go into effect on March 31.
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