International Olympic Committee says Each sport must set transgender rules

International Olympic Committee says Each sport must set transgender rules. 

Despite criticism from tennis legend Martina Navratilova, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has upheld its stance that each international sports organization must establish its guidelines for accepting transgender athletes.

Navratilova, a pioneer in homosexual rights, criticized the IOC earlier this week for what she called a lack of leadership on the subject of allowing transgender athletes to compete in sports.

The decision by FINA, the organization that oversees swimming, to exclude athletes from participating in top women’s competitions if they had gone through any stage of male puberty last weekend threw the matter into sharp relief.

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IOC spokesman Mark Adams said in a virtual press conference on Friday that this is a “very controversial, an adamant position, a very challenging subject where we have to attempt to combine fairness with inclusion.”

However, we are aware that each sport should and does have a unique perspective on seeing not just sport but also its disciplines when there is a justifiable benefit.

Last year, the IOC updated its inclusion policies with a new framework that advises against excluding athletes due to “perceived” unfair advantage but leaves it up to sports federations to set the regulations.

“However, we are unable to provide a single rule. One simple, universal rule. Sport and even discipline are required, “explained he. “Therefore, we acknowledge that criticism will exist since it is unavoidable. But we’ll do our best to strike a balance between equity and inclusion.”

The IOC had delegated responsibility for the problem to federations, which were sometimes underfunded. 

According to Navratilova, finding the right balance between inclusion and fairness in individual events was exceedingly difficult.

Navratilova, who has won 59 Grand Slam championships overall, told The Australian newspaper that “the IOC has punted.”