Transgender people will not be able to take part in women's international rugby league matches until a "full inclusion policy has been established", the International Rugby League (IRL), the world body for the sport, announced on Tuesday. .
This announcement comes two days after that of the International Swimming Federation which decided to set up an “open category” to allow transgender athletes to compete separately.
IRL authorities have said they need further consultation and research to finalize a new policy for 2023, citing a "legal, reputational and welfare risk" to the game and players.
In the meantime, "players who have transitioned from male to female (transgender) cannot participate in international women's rugby matches," the IRL said in a statement.
The IOC lets each sport decide
International sporting bodies are deep in thought to put in place regulatory measures on this subject, the International Olympic Committee having announced last year that it let each sport determine how athletes could have a “disproportionate advantage”.
This topic sparks controversy between those who defend the right of transgender athletes to compete freely as women and those who believe they have an unfair physiological advantage.
The IRL announcement means transgender people will not be able to take part in the Women's Rugby World Cup in England in November.
“The IRL reaffirms its belief that Rugby League is a game for everyone and everyone can play our sport,” she said.
She felt it was her responsibility to strike the right balance between each player's right to participate and the perceived risk to other players, as well as "to ensure that everyone gets a fair hearing".
The anger of Layt, a former transgender rugby player
The governing body said it was working with the eight countries that qualified for the next Women's Rugby League World Cup on a "future transgender women's inclusion policy in 2023", taking into account the sport's "unique characteristics".
On Sunday, the International Swimming Federation (Fina) decided that athletes born male and who became female could only compete in female categories, or set female world records, if they became female before puberty.
According to its medical committee, men who became women retained benefits, including “larger lungs and hearts, longer bones, bigger feet and hands,” which are not lost “with the suppression of hormones. ".
Athletics in the footsteps of swimming?
On Monday, Caroline Layt, a transgender former rugby player from New South Wales, reacted angrily to Fina's decision, tweeting that it was "discriminatory against a minority group whose rights are already in the gutter”.
The president of the International Athletics Federation Sebastian Coe has for his part hinted that his discipline could follow the position of FINA by adopting a stricter policy towards transgender athletes participating in women's events.
"My responsibility is to protect the integrity of women's sport," said Sebastian Coe, present on Sunday at the World Swimming Championships currently taking place in Budapest.
"If we have to adjust the protocols in the future, we will," he added, noting that if pushed to choose between "equity" and "inclusion," he would "always side with fairness”.
According to the rules of the International Athletics Federation, transgender women must have sufficiently low testosterone levels for at least twelve months before a competition.
