The new rules proposed by international soccer’s governing body, FIFA, are looking to erase testosterone requirements and allow trans female athletes to play against natural-born women just by “self-identifying.”
Taking the exact opposite track as the ruling announced last weekend by swimming’s governing body where trans athletes will find more restrictions to participation, soccer looks to be ready to throw out all restrictions and allow any trans athlete to play just because they claim to be a woman, the Daily Mail reported.
FIFA’s proposed rules change is only in the early stages of consideration and still must go through a debate session. Still, if adopted, the rules would throw the door wide for all transgender participants without any restrictions.
The organization’s current rules require trans women athletes to have a testosterone level of five nanomoles per liter. In addition, they must have undergone testosterone suppression for 12 months before joining the league to compete as a woman. But the new rule would throw out all such restrictions.
The Mail notes that some sports officials are shocked by FIFA’s proposal. For example, professor Jurgen Steinacker, the chair of World Rowing’s Sports Medicine Commission, recently insisted that if such a rule were adopted across sports, it would essentially “dissolve” women’s sports.
The Adidas Conext 21 Official match ball (FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)
A group of 38 medical experts agreed with Steinacker by publishing a position paper maintaining that using only a “self-identifying” criteria is not “scientific or medically based” and is unfair to natural-born females.
“A starting point that trans women are eligible to play in the female category, in a sport like football, contradicts the logical conclusion from the mountain of evidence showing that those born male and who go through normal male puberty have several physical advantages over those born female, and probably puts those born female at higher risk of injury during direct physical contact,” added Manchester Metropolitan University Dr. Alun Williams.
The divergent treatments of the transgender athlete issue, both coming only days apart, are evidence that a major battle over the topic is being waged in the sports world. At heart are several key questions: Do trans female athletes have a competitive advantage over natural-born females? And if so, how can liberal sports leagues still follow the political tenet of “inclusion” if it damages female sports?
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