The sports authority says it needs additional consultations and research to finalize a new policy for 2023.
Le Monde with AFP
Transgender will not be able to participate in international rugby international matches in XIII until a “complete inclusion policy,” said international rugby league (IRL), on Tuesday, June 21, on Tuesday June 21, Who directs Rugby to XIII International.
As long as this policy has not been finalized, “the playful players of male sex in female cannot participate in international women’s rugby matches,” said the IRL in a statement.
This announcement comes two days after that of the International Swimming Federation (Fin) which decided to set up an “open category” to allow transgender athletes to compete separately. As part of these rules, male competition would be open to everyone. On the other hand, athletes born men and become women will be able to compete in the female categories of the finish, or establish female world records, only if they have become women before puberty.
This finish decision had occurred when the swimming world was shaken by a controversy concerning the American transgender swimmer Lia Thomas. The 22 -year -old student, born of male, had become the first transgender swimmer in the spring to win a university title. His mid-March victory in the 500 yards final (457 meters) had opened a broad debate, his detractors believing that having competed as a man in the past, Lia Thomas benefited from an unjust physiological advantage.
“Anyone can practice our sport”
The IRL authorities have said they need additional consultations and research to finalize a new policy for 2023, invoking a “legal risk, for the reputation and well-being” of the game and the players. They invoked the decision taken last year by the International Olympic Committee which lets each sport determine how athletes could have a “disproportionate advantage”.
“The IRL reaffirms its conviction that the Rugby League [to XIII] is a game for everyone and that everyone can practice our sport,” she said. The IRL has estimated that it is the responsibility of finding a balance between the right of each player to participate and the risk perceived by the other players as well as “to ensure that everyone benefits from fair listening”.
The ruling body claimed to work with the eight finalists of the Rugby World Cup at XIII Female 2021 for a “future policy of inclusion of transgender women in 2023”, taking into account the “unique characteristics” of rugby at XIII.