The International Cricket Council banned transgender players from the elite women’s game if they have gone through male puberty.
ICC Bans Transgender Players from International Women’s Cricket
The ICC said it had taken the decision, following an extensive scientific review and nine-month consultation, to “protect the integrity of the international women’s game and the safety of players”.
The new “gender eligibility regulation” does not apply to domestic cricket leagues, whose governing bodies will have to decide whether to apply similar regulations, the ICC said.
The ICC previously required transgender women to show decreased levels of testosterone for a yearlong period and sign a “written and signed declaration” that the athlete’s gender identity is female.
Earlier in 2020, the International Cricket Council announced the minimum age for a player to play an international match.
It’s not the first time for a sports body to ban Transgender Players many other sports have restricted or banned transgender women over the last year.
- Cycling’s governing body announced in July transgender women would no longer be able to participate in women’s events to “ensure equal opportunities.”
- World Athletics issued restrictions on most transgender women in women’s track and field events in March.
- Last year, the International Rugby League banned transgender women from competing in sanctioned women’s rugby matches.”
- Sports like swimming have established “Open” categories, allowing competitors whose gender differs from their birth sex to participate.
- The International Chess Federation released new policies prohibiting transgender women from competing in women’s events in August.
- Most sports with restrictions argue transgender women have an unfair physical advantage over other athletes.
- Meanwhile, some GOP-led states have sought to bar transgender women and girls from school sports, a move that has drawn criticism.
A decision to restrict transgender women from competing in international cricket matches comes two months after Canadian Danielle McGahey became the first transgender cricketer to play in an international match.
The statement read: ‘The new policy is based on the following principles (in order of priority), protection of the integrity of the women’s game, safety, fairness and inclusion, and this means any Male to Female participants who have been through any form of male puberty will not be eligible to participate in the international women’s game regardless of any surgery or gender reassignment treatment they may have undertaken.
‘The review, which was led by the ICC Medical Advisory Committee chaired by Dr Peter Harcourt, relates solely to gender eligibility for international women’s cricket, whilst gender eligibility at domestic level is a matter for each individual Member Board, which may be impacted by local legislation. ‘The regulations will be reviewed within two years.’
ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice added: ‘The changes to the gender eligibility regulations resulted from an extensive consultation process and is founded in science and aligned with the core principles developed during the review.
‘Inclusivity is incredibly important to us as a sport, but our priority was to protect the integrity of the international women’s game and the safety of players.’
The England and Wales Cricket Board said it will consider how the new ICC regulations affect its own policy. An ECB spokesperson said: “We continue to review our transgender policy, considering inclusivity, safety and fairness, and will consider these new ICC regulations as part of this work.”
