Football’s main governing body FIFA has already outlined new regulations that will make it easy for transgender women to compete in elite female football, according to a report.
The Mail on Sunday claim that the draft framework removes the testosterone threshold for transgender women and proposes that footballers should also be allowed to compete in their self-identified gender.
FIFA has arrived at this decision following an internal review that kicked off in 2020. In dropping an old limit of five nmole/L over 12 months prior to competing in women’s football, it will recommend that no threshold is adopted at all for transgender players.
While the new regulations are still at the consultation stage, the British newspaper understands that some parts of FIFA’s senior management remain unconvinced that they should be published as is.
If brought in, the moves would represent a radical change at a time when transgender inclusion is one of the most hotly debated topics in sport as seen in swimming with former UPenn college star Lia Thomas and cycling with Emily Bridges.
In cycling, the UCI tightened their rules this week and lowered testosterone limits from five to 2.5 nanomoles per liter. Simultaneously, FIFA’s cycling counterpart doubled the amount of time a trans-athlete needs to suppress to two years, meaning Bridges cannot compete in elite cycling events until 2023.