Santanu Banik/AP
The International Cricket Council on Tuesday announced that transgender women will no longer be allowed to compete in women’s games.
The governing body stated that any “male-to-female participants who have undergone male puberty” would be barred from competing with women in international games. This rule applies to all athletes regardless of “any surgical or gender reassignment treatment they may have undertaken.”
“The changes to the gender eligibility regulations resulted from an extensive consultation process and are founded in science,” ICC Chief Executive Geoff Allardice said in the statement, “aligning 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.”
According to the BBC, the “consultation process” in question lasted nine months. The new rules will be reviewed in two years.
Just a couple months ago, Canadian player Danielle McGahey made history as the first transgender cricket player to compete in an international game.
The ICC is the latest in a growing list of international bodies that have introduced rules regarding trans athletes. In July, the International Cycling Union announced that transgender women would only be eligible for its new “Men/Open” category. The next month, the International Chess Federation also decided that trans women would not compete in women’s categories.
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