Overview
- This week the Women’s Tennis Association made an obligatory, one-time SRY-gene screening the proof of eligibility for WTA tournaments and said the test can be done by cheek swab, saliva or blood.
- The new rule replaces the previous policy that allowed transgender women to compete after declaring female and keeping suppressed testosterone levels for two years.
- The change follows an IOC-led tightening of women’s category rules that grew out of disputes over women’s boxing at the Paris 2024 Games and work by an IOC group on protecting the women’s category.
- Athletes and commentators have criticised the test as invasive and a threat to medical privacy and dignity, drawing comparisons with past sex-verification practices and prompting immediate public pushback.
- There are currently no known transgender women active on the WTA Tour and the policy could prompt legal challenges, further policy shifts in other sports and scrutiny of how leagues manage athlete welfare and data privacy.