IOC urged to drop reported gender test plans for female athletes

More than 80 human rights and sport advocacy groups have called on the International Olympic Committee to abandon reported plans to introduce universal genetic sex testing for female athletes and impose a blanket ban on transgender and intersex competitors.

A joint statement released on Tuesday by the Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA), ILGA World, Humans of Sport and dozens of other groups warned that the measures that will reportedly be recommended by the IOC's Protection of the Female Category Working Group would set back gender equity in sport.

"Multiple sources have said the group has advised the IOC to require all women and girl athletes to undergo genetic sex verification and to bar transgender and intersex athletes from competing in women's events. The IOC has not publicly confirmed the recommendations," the statement said.

The SRA's executive director Andrea Florence said sex testing and a blanket ban policy would be a "catastrophic erosion of women's rights and safety".

"Gender policing and exclusion harms all women and girls, and undermines the very dignity and fairness the IOC claims to uphold," she added.

The IOC, which is expected to announce the working group's findings in the first half of 2026, discontinued universal sex testing after the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

International bodies, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Women and the World Medical Association, have condemned sex testing and related interventions as discriminatory and harmful.

It "violates women's and girls' privacy", and exposes child athletes to safeguarding risks, said Payoshni Mitra, executive director of Humans of Sport.

Advocates also argued that banning transgender and intersex athletes ignores barriers those athletes face, including harassment, restricted access to sport and other structural disadvantages.

"Sport should be a place of belonging," said ILGA World's Executive Director Julia Ehrt.

The groups said the reported proposals contradict the IOC's own 2021 Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non‑Discrimination.

Reuters has contacted the IOC for comment.

World Athletics is among sporting organisations which have already adopted gender testing, introducing an SRY gene test for all female athletes ahead of last year's World Championships in Tokyo.