LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) – Britain's sports minister Nadine Dorries on Tuesday said she expected sporting bodies to reserve women's competitions for those born of the female sex, after holding a meeting with a number of governing bodies.
Her statement comes days after swimming's world governing body FINA voted to restrict the participation of male-to-female transgender athletes in elite women's competitions if they have experienced any part of male puberty. read more
Following FINA's decision, the strictest by any Olympic sports body, many other sports bodies have also begun to follow suit by announcing reviews of their policies on transgender athletes.
"We can't pretend that sex doesn't have a direct impact on a person's athletic performance," Dorries said on Twitter.
"Asking women and teenage girls to compete against someone who was biologically born a male is inherently unfair.
"Today I have made my position absolutely clear: I expect sporting bodies to follow the policy that competitive women's sport must be reserved for people born of the female sex."
The debate had intensified after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history after winning the women's 500-yard freestyle earlier this year.
FINA had also said they would create a working group to establish an "open" category for transgender athletes, a move Dorries supported, but she added that fairness "has to take priority above all else".
"We need to do this in a way that protects and shows compassion to all athletes," she added.
"Some clear direction is long overdue – not only for athletes, but also event organisers and fans. There is evidently more to do to make sport fairer for female athletes."
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is considering a return to competition of Russian athletes who do not support the country's invasion of Ukraine, IOC president Thomas Bach said on Friday.
Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.
Build the strongest argument relying on authoritative content, attorney-editor expertise, and industry defining technology.
The most comprehensive solution to manage all your complex and ever-expanding tax and compliance needs.
The industry leader for online information for tax, accounting and finance professionals.
Access unmatched financial data, news and content in a highly-customised workflow experience on desktop, web and mobile.
Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts.
Screen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks.
All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of exchanges and delays.
© 2022 Reuters. All rights reserved
