FIFA Reviewing Policies on Transgender Players After FINA Ruling

FIFA was on the verge of reviewing its policies regarding its transgender athletes following the final ruling of FINA. This was after the world swimming governing body ruled that transgender swimmers were not allowed to participate in any swimming tournaments and sports betting. 

FINA finalized its policy on transgender athletes

Recently, FINA announced that it would be restricting the participation of transgender athletes in women’s international competitions on professional swimming and instead only allowing transgender athletes to compete in gender-neutral competitions. 

The FINA decision was based on the fact that transgender athletes were not eligible to compete in women’s competitions due to their lack of physical and physiological characteristics. 

According to the new policies of FINA, transgender women are only deemed elligible to compete in women’s competitions if they have undergone gender reassignment surgery and have been living as a woman for at least five years. 

Additionally, they could also participate in women’s competitions if they can prove that they have not experienced any level of puberty as a male prior to being 12 years old which is deemed as late.

Fairness over equality rights

According to the president of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, the decision of FINA was commendable and will be beneficial to the sport. This will finally address the criticisms of the transgender community that believed that transgender women are dominating the world of women’s sports.

“We will finally look at an international sports federation and Asia bookie that is taking a stand on this issue. FINA is finally asserting its power to set rules and policies in a way that is fair and just to all athletes. The decision is a step in the right direction and will be a great boost to the sport of swimming,” said Coe.

“I think the decision is fair because I have always believed that biology will always be the deciding factor in who is allowed to compete in a sport and not gender. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with transgender women competing in women’s sports. I think the issue is that somehow, testosterone could still affect the performance and it wouldn’t be fair for women to compete against transgender women,” Coe added.

The stand of FIFA regarding the new policy

Similar to FINA, FIFA is also reviewing its policies regarding transgenders in women’s football. According to a representative of FIFA, the organization is conducting a consultation process for the new policy. 

“FIFA has been working on this issue for some time and they are reviewing the new policies and they are consulting with the experts in the field to see how the new policy will apply to the current state of the football community,” said the representative.

The representative said that the procedure is already running and he will not provide any further details about the matter until the review is completed.

FIFA stated that it will seek a full circle of perspectives, from medical, scientific, legal, social and cultural standpoints, in order to come up with the best policy for the sport. The organization also said that it will take into account the opinions of the transgender community and hte position of the International Olympic Commmittee.

Recently, the International Cycling Union also announced that it will review its policies regarding transgender athletes. This will affect the world of online betting Singapore.

The bottom line

The main purpose of the review is to ensure that the new policy is fair and will not affect the rights of transgenders. The new policy will also be in line with the requirements of the International Olympic Committee. 

The review will take place over the next three months and will be completed by the end of the year. The ongoing change of policies will ensure that fairness will prevail in the world of sports.