ENGLAND: FIFA is reviewing the transgender rules as women’s football boasts fervent LGBT supporters! Megan Rapinoe, a former US football player, angered tennis legend Martina Navratilova by stating she would accept a trans woman competing for the American team. The controversial issue of transgender athletes competing in women’s events has been a contentious issue in sports, with World Athletics and World Aquatics implementing recent rules to address this issue.
The Women’s World Cup, starting July 20 in Australia and New Zealand, will feature LGBT rights supporters competing against FIFA’s reconsideration of eligibility laws for transgender athletes. Rapinoe criticized the nation’s efforts to legislate away people’s humanity and the use of women’s sports as weapons. She questioned if fairness is now a priority.
Rapinoe and her WNBA partner Sue Bird opposed a federal plan banning transgender athletes from participating in women’s and girls’ sports for Title IX compliance, which prohibits sexist discrimination.
Opponents argue that male puberty provides players with a physical advantage that transgender inclusion in women’s sports does not counter. In 2017, the US women’s team, including Rapinoe, lost to the opposition 5-2 in an informal training match. FIFA officials aim to balance inclusiveness with safety and justice, with no deadline for amended rules.
In accordance with FIFA’s rules, which were initially published in 2011, only men are entitled to compete in men’s competitions and only women are entitled to compete in women’s competitions.
Member associations must ensure the correct gender before naming players for national squads. After claims that the Equatorial Guinea team included male players, Swedish defender Nilla Fischer stated in her most recent book that she and her teammates had to display their genitalia to the doctor during the 2011 World Cup.
Zambia’s captain Barbara Banda being ineligible for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations due to rumoured excessive testosterone levels. She will captain Zambia in the World Cup in Australia.
LGBT groups argue that transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports has made North America’s society more unfriendly towards gender-diverse people.
In an interaction with a Canadian newspaper, Quinn, the first openly non-binary trans athlete, who won the women’s football gold medal in Tokyo, said that there has been a rise in prejudice against individuals of different gender identities.
“I think it is a scary time for me. I think I do have a lot of points of privilege when entering this conversation, so I have to be mindful of that. But I think the reality is, it’s scary,” Quinn stated.
FIFA designed eight armbands with diverse “Unite” slogans, considering teams like England’s “One Love” armband, which resembles “Unite for Inclusion.”
Also Read: FIFA President Gianni Infantino Threatens a Tournament Blackout in Europe for the Women’s World Cup
