Cricket: Transgender women barred from participating in international cricket, rules ICC

Transgender women who have been through male puberty have been barred from international women’s cricket under new regulations announced by the International Cricket Council on Tuesday.

The regulations state that transgender women will not be allowed to compete regardless of whether or not they have undergone surgery or gender reassignment treatment.

In September, Canada’s Danielle McGahey became the first transgender cricketer to take part in an official international match.

The ICC said it was taking the decision to protect the integrity of international women’s game and the safety of players.

In a statement after its Board meeting in Ahmedabad, the ICC said, “The ICC Board approved new gender eligibility regulations for the international game following a nine-month consultation process with the sport’s stakeholders.

“The new policy is based on the following principles (in order of priority), protection of the integrity of the women’s game, safety, fairness and inclusion, and this means any Male to Female participants who have been through any form of male puberty will not be eligible to participate in the international women’s game regardless of any surgery or gender reassignment treatment they may have undertaken.”

International governing bodies in cycling, swimming, rugby and athletics have also banned transgender competitors in women’s events.

For example, World Athletic, the governing body for...

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