By Sourit Sanyal
FINA, the global governing body for swimming and water sports voted to ban transgender athletes from taking part in all women's elite competitions. Only those who transitioned before the age of 12 can take part in women events, according to FINA's new policy. The voting took place at the FINA Extraordinary General Congress 2022 at the World Championship currently taking place in Budapest.
A total of 152 FINA members passed the new policy where 71% of the votes supported the ban. The FINA claims this process is "only a first step towards full inclusion" for transgender participants. The newly voted policy, a 34-page document, states that male-to-female transgender athletes can qualify for participating in the women's category if the athletes "provided they have not experienced any part of male puberty beyond Tanner Stage 2 [which marks the start of physical development], or before age 12, whichever is later".
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Following this decision, FINA also targets the establishment of a new 'open' category in competitions for swimmers where athletes do not identify with the gender identity ascribed to them on birth. The implementation of this policy means that many transgender athletes would be now barred from participating in elite events. This also includes the likes of American college swimmer Lia Thomas who became the first openly transgender athlete to win an NCAA Division I. With the implementation of this policy, Thomas would not be allowed from participating in the female category anymore, despite her expressing the desire to compete for Olympics qualification.
Before the voting, FINA members heard a report from a transgender task force that consists of leading figures in medicine, law and sport. Brent Nowicki, the executive director of FINA stated, "Fina's approach in drafting this policy was comprehensive, science-based and inclusive, and, importantly, Fina's approach emphasised competitive fairness".
Following the voting process, FINA President Husain Al-Musallam mentioned how the organisation was trying to "protect the rights of our athletes to compete" but at the same time, also "protecting competitive fairness". He further went on, saying, "FINA will always welcome every athlete. The creation of an open category will mean that everybody has the opportunity to compete at an elite level. This has not been done before, so FINA will need to lead the way. I want all athletes to feel included in being able to develop ideas during this process."
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The policy has, however, received criticism for its discriminatory nature from many advocacy group. Athlete Ally, a prominent LGBT advocacy group released the statement of their Policy and Programs Director, Anne Lieberman. She said that "FINA's new eligibility criteria for transgender athletes and athletes with intersex variations are deeply discriminatory, harmful, unscientific and not in line with the 2021 International Olympic Committee framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations."
Lieberman further said, "The eligibility criteria for the women's category as it is laid out in the policy police the bodies of all women, and will not be enforceable without seriously violating the privacy and human rights of any athlete looking to compete in the women's category."
