On Tuesday, the Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA), ILGA World, Humans of Sport, and numerous other groups released a statement expressing concern that the recommendations anticipated from the IOC’s Protection of the Female Category Working Group could undermine gender equity in sports.
The statement noted, “Multiple sources have said the group has advised the IOC to require all women and girl athletes to undergo genetic sex verification and to bar transgender and intersex athletes from competing in women’s events. The IOC has not publicly confirmed the recommendations.”
Reuters has reached out to the IOC for a comment.
Back in February, the IOC announced plans to disclose the findings of the working group in the first half of 2026. The organization had ended universal sex testing after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and has since refrained from enforcing any universal rules on transgender participation, instead directing international federations in 2021 to develop their own guidelines.
In response, several major sports federations, including those for athletics, swimming, and rugby union, have prohibited athletes who have experienced male puberty from participating in women’s events.
Andrea Florence, the SRA’s executive director, criticized sex testing and blanket bans as a “catastrophic erosion of women’s rights and safety.”
“Gender policing and exclusion harms all women and girls, and undermines the very dignity and fairness the IOC claims to uphold,” she elaborated.
In contrast, Jon Pike, an English academic specializing in the philosophy of sport and advocate for female category protection, dismissed the letter as “laughable, desperate, and silly.” He remarked on social media platform X, “(The working group) won’t propose a ban at all, it proposes to exclude males from the female category.”
He further noted, “This (letter) was predictable, and is, in a way, encouraging. Nothing is fixed, but I’m optimistic because of the pessimism of this group.”
International organizations, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Women, and the World Medical Association, have criticized sex testing and related measures as discriminatory and harmful.
According to Payoshni Mitra, executive director of Humans of Sport, such testing “violates women’s and girls’ privacy” and poses safeguarding risks for young athletes.
Advocates emphasize that prohibiting transgender and intersex athletes overlooks challenges these athletes encounter, such as harassment and restricted access to sports.
“Sport should be a place of belonging,” said Julia Ehrt, ILGA World’s executive director.
The groups argue that the reported recommendations contradict the IOC’s own Framework on Fairness, Inclusion, and Non‑Discrimination, which places responsibility on federations to establish their own rules.
Jon Pike added, “I should hope that the proposals contradict the 2021 Framework document, because that is one of the most confused – to put it kindly – policy statements I’ve ever read.” He referred to claims in the document about “no presumed advantage” of males over females in sports.
World Athletics is among the sports organizations that have implemented gender testing, including a one-time SRY gene test through a cheek swab for all female athletes before last year’s World Championships in Tokyo.
