World sport begins to close ranks against women’s participation transsexuals in international women’s competitions with the express prohibition of admitting them in matches, tournaments or races, or imposing such restricted conditions, with testosterone levels above all, that they are very difficult to comply with.
The trickle of harsh impositions began this week from the international swimming, rugby, athletics and cycling federations, while the FIFA is in full debate about the future of transsexual players.
The case of Lia Thomas
It all started after American Lia Thomas became the first transgender swimmer to participate in high-level competition after three years as a star on the California state swim team. Pennsilvania. Suddenly the FINA (International Swimming Federation) met during the World Championships of the specialty that is being held this week in Budapest.
There, with the support of 71% of the members of FINA, it was agreed to veto all transsexual swimmers who had passed male puberty and only allow competition to those who had been transexuals before the age of 12which is practically a ban in international competition.
Rugby and Soccer
Tournaments and international matches with the national teams of their respective countries will also not be able to do so from now on. rugby playersaccording to the recent agreement made by the International League of this sports modality.
But the issue goes even further, since the FIFAas the highest governing body in world football, seemed to remain very open to allowing the registration of ftranssexual football players in international leagues and competitions. Now, instead, the debate is open, after the restricted considerations applied by other federations.
The British ‘The Mail on Sunday’ published that FIFA was drafting some favorable rules transsexual soccer players regardless of their testosterone levels. Now, on the other hand, and also in statements by members of the international federation to ‘Sportsmail’, it is stated that a new orientation is being studied to admit them in local and international competitions that is based on medical, scientific, legal, performance and human rights.
The IOC
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has left the matter in the hands of the different federations so that each of them adopts the criteria it deems most appropriate. Hence, there is a legal and sporting vacuum on the measures to be taken and whether or not there should be a veto in this regard. Although, yes, the IOC has always defended that a transsexual jock It should not have more advantages than a female rival from the outset.
The World Athletics, the international athletics federation, formerly the IAAF, does not seem to be in much agreement either when it comes to offering the female license to transsexual athletes, since, for now, it is inclined to give more priority to biological importance, with the debate on the testosterone, that gender. And the same thing happens, for example, within the federations of tennis and boxing.
The debate was fully opened in April in Britain after 21-year-old cyclist Emily Bridges was denied entry to the British Track Cycling Championships. “Biological men should not compete as women”, she came to say at that time Boris Johnsonthe British Prime Minister.
testosterone
The protest of a rival prevented the contest of Bridges after having spent a year changing his training formulas and having managed to lower testosterone levels below 5 nanomoles per liter of blood, which meant an important physical sacrifice. Now the UCI (International Cycling Union) has tightened the measures by lowering testosterone levels to half of 5 nanomoles and by increasing the transition from man to woman to compete from one year to two years.
