International Olympic Committee has no right to become ‘gender police’ of the world

(Amsterdam, March 17, 2026) – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) should abandon potential plans to mandate genetic sex testing and ban transgender and intersex athletes, the Sport & Rights Alliance (SRA), ILGA World, Humans of Sport and over 100 other allied organizations said in a joint statement released today.

Multiple sources have reported that the opaque “Working Group on the protection of the female category,” has recommended the IOC implement universal genetic sex testing of all women and girl athletes and a complete ban on transgender and intersex athletes. This would constitute an astounding rollback on gender equality and set women’s sport back 30 years.

“A sex testing and blanket ban policy would be a catastrophic erosion of women’s rights and safety” said Andrea Florence, Executive Director of the Sport & Rights Alliance. “Gender policing and exclusion harms all women and girls, and undermines the very dignity and fairness the IOC claims to uphold. Our concerns are compounded by the fact that the IOC also seems to be, at the same time, divesting from the safe sport infrastructure that actually provides protection for women and girls.”

After the 1996 Olympic Games, the IOC voted to discontinue universal sex testing for being scientifically and ethically unjustifiable, since it was an inaccurate test of both sex and athletic advantage and was resulting in considerable harm to affected athletes. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Women, the World Medical Association, American Medical Association and, most recently, a group of independent UN experts have long condemned sex testing and medically unnecessary interventions as discriminatory, unethical, and harmful. 

“Requiring women and girls to undergo mandatory genetic screening just to participate in sport would revive a practice that – even if it’s a ‘one-time test’ – violates women’s and girls’ privacy, exposes them to extreme public scrutiny, humiliation, and opens a pathway to medically unnecessary interventions,” said Dr. Payoshni Mitra, Executive Director of Humans of Sport. “People often forget that child athletes compete at the Olympics and international competitions – this policy would cause massive safeguarding risks by requiring young women and children’s bodies to be investigated and their intimate health information disclosed, potentially leading to permanent harm to their dignity, mental health, and safety.”

Banning transgender and intersex athletes in the name of “fairness” ignores the reality that these athletes are some of the most stigmatized groups in sport, disproportionately facing barriers to access, widespread harassment and abuse, and other disadvantages. There is no evidence that policing women’s and children’s bodies improves fairness or gender equality; instead, it shifts the focus away from real issues like unequal funding, access to training, pay disparities, and gender-based violence in sport.

“Sport should be a place of belonging,” said Julia Ehrt, Executive Director of ILGA World. “We urge the IOC to prioritize safety over politics and not allow a policy that actively puts all women at risk. Invasive policing of women’s bodies should concern everyone as it reinforces harmful stereotypes and exposes all women and LGBTI athletes to further harassment and scrutiny.”

This new policy would represent a total reversal of the IOC’s own 2021 Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination – a widely-respected document informed by extensive research and engagement with over 250 athletes and experts, which recognized the need for evidence-based, sport-specific, and rights-respecting eligibility rules. The IOC has ignored repeated requests for transparency on the Working Group’s approach and genuine consultation with impacted athletes, leading researchers on trans and intersex athletic performance, and human rights experts.The IOC should adhere to its own good governance standards, and ensure independent scientific and human rights scrutiny.

“The IOC must not turn its back on women and girls of color,” said Francine Niyonsaba, Olympic Silver medalist from Burundi. “I gave so much time and effort to building the 2021 Framework and have repeatedly shared my views. I hope the IOC will not ignore us. As a Black African woman, I ask the IOC to ensure international sport upholds athletes’ human rights and does not promote institutionalised discrimination.”

In recent years, sport eligibility regulations have targeted women of color from the Global South, often with no evidence and on the basis of appearance. Mandatory genetic sex testing stems directly from these efforts and will continue to disproportionately harm these women and girls who are already more likely to face discrimination and barriers to access sport.

“As an Olympian who competed against Caster Semenya in the 2009 World Championships, I know first hand that inclusion does not come at the expense of fairness,” said Dr Madeleine Pape, sociologist at the University of Lausanne. “It would be devastating to see the IOC reject fair and evidence-based policymaking in favor of an irresponsible and politically expedient position, while ignoring the actual needs of women and girls in sport. The Olympic Movement deserves better than that.”

Finally, the IOC and International Federations (IFs) are in no position to oversee how mandatory genetic screening will be implemented across 200+ diverse national contexts. While this has the potential to harm all women and girls, the harms would be particularly pronounced in Global South countries that have fewer resources and protections for athletes. According to the U.S.-based non-profit The Inclusion Playbook, the sex verification testing proposed by the IOC can cost upwards of $10,000 USD per athlete; how IFs or other governing bodies will pay for these costs remains to be seen.
The Sport & Rights Alliance, ILGA World, Humans of Sport and the undersigned organizations call on the IOC to immediately reverse these plans to sex test and ban women on the basis of their chromosome status, and to fulfill its commitments in the Olympic Charter to ensure that every individual has “access to the practice of sport, without discrimination of any kind in respect of internationally recognised human rights.”

View the statement in French, Spanish and Italian.

Signatory Organizations

1. Access to Good health Nigeria initiative
2. Activ’Elles
3. African Trans Network (ATN)
4. AG Bildung e.V./IVF Leipzig
5. Agrupación Deportiva Ibérica LGTBI+
6. Alwan Foundation
7. Argentina Intersex
8. Asociación Peruana de Personas Intersexuales
9. Asociación Red de Jóvenes para la Incidencia Política – INCIDEJOVEN –
10. Association of Russian-Speaking Intersex (ARSI)
11. Athlete Rights Australia
12. Best Practices Policy Project
13. Beyond the Boundary-Knowing and Concerns Intersex
14. Bi+ Equal
15. Bi+ Nederland
16. Bi+ Pride Victoria
17. BIMBA
18. Brown girl woke
19. Brújula Intersexual
20. Bundesverband Trans* e. V., Germany
21. BuNTes Netzwerk des queeren Sports, Germany
22. Caminar Intersex
23. Canadian Women’s Wheelchair Rugby Program – Northern Lights
24. Centre for Sport Policy Studies
25. Colombia Diversa
26. Compete Proud
27. Consortium for Intersectional Justice
28. Crème de la crème house of fame foundation Nigeria
29. Direitos humanos Intersexo Angola (DHIA)
30. Egale Canada
31. EPL
32. Equal Namibia
33. Equality Australia
34. EUFORIA Familias Trans-Aliadas
35. European Gay & Lesbian Sports Federation
36. fairplay – initiative for antidiscrimination and diversity in sport
37. FairSquare
38. Fare network
39. Feminist Sport Lab
40. Festival Nacional Trans de la Cumbia – Barranquilla, Colombia
41. Fier-Play
42. Football v Homophobia/Transphobia
43. Football v Homophobia/Transphobia
44. FSTB – The Association in Support of Transgender Children
45. Fundación : lilas y lavandas de Bogotá, Colombia .
46. Fundacja Interakcja, Polska (Interaction Foundation, Poland)
47. Gamut 1
48. Gendered Intelligence
49. GIN SSOGIE
50. Global Alliance For Queer Leaders (GAQL)
51. Global Rugby Leadership Institute
52. Haus of Khameleon
53. Helen Lenskyj Research
54. Hiduru
55. Humans of Sport
56. IGLYO – The International LGBTQI Youth & Student Organisation
57. ILGA World
58. Inter Solidarity
59. interACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth
60. InterAction Switzerland (Swiss intersex association)
61. Interdisciplinary Centre for Ethics, Regulation and Integrity in Sport, KU LEuven
62. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
63. International Planned Parenthood Federation
64. International Research Center for Sport and Gender Equality (SGE), Seijo University
65. International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA)
66. Intersex Danmark
67. Intersex Greece
68. Intersex Philippines
69. Intersex Sverige
70. IntersexEsiste Aps (Italy)
71. intersexioni (Italy)
72. IntersexUK iUK
73. Intersukupuolisten ihmisoikeudet ISIO ry
74. Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation (J-ALL)
75. Just Futures Collaborative
76. Just.Equal Australia Inc
77. Las Polas
78. LEAP Sports Scotland
79. Lex Athleta
80. LSVD+ – Federation Queer Diversity
81. MANODIVERSA
82. Mini Church in Tsuruoka Yamagata
83. MOSAIC, MENA Organisation for Services Advocacy Integration and Capacity Building
84. Moving The Goalposts
85. Nakoon -Lebanon
86. National Women’s Law Center
87. Nere Mellaerts
88. Nguvu Collective
89. NNID Foundation, Netherlands expertise center for sex diversity
90. Observatori Contra l’LGTBI-fòbia
91. Oceania Pride
92. One Future Collective
93. Organisation Intersex International Europe e.V. (OII Europe)
94. Organisation Intersex International Germany e.V. (OII Germany)
95. Orgullo Ecatepec A.C
96. Oui Pour La Vie
97. Outright International
98. Outsport Network – AiCS LGBTI
99. Pan Idræt Denmark
100. Plataforma nacional ConGnero (Colombia)
101. Power to Play Period
102. Pratyay Gender Support
103. Pride and Sports Netherlands
104. Pride Cup
105. Pride House International
106. Pride House Tokyo
107. Pride In Touch CIC
108. Pride Sports
109. Profamilia
110. Proud Parents Greece
111. Proud2Play
112. Proyecto Hortensia
113. Queer Kids International
114. Queer Women Leaders Uganda (QWLU)
115. Queer WorX
116. Queer Youth Group
117. Quimera
118. Rainbow Afghanistan
119. Rainbow School Greece
120. ReportOUT
121. Right Side HRD NGO
122. Savie ASBL NGO LGBTQ DRC
123. SAWASF
124. Seitenwechsel Sportverein für FrauenLesbenTransInter und Mädchen e. V.
125. Sentiido
126. Sex og Politikk (IPPF Norway)
127. Sexuality Policy Watch
128. South Asia Transgender Network
129. Spectrum
130. Sport & Rights Alliance
131. Sports Media LGBT+
132. Talay’an Mena Organization
133. Te Tiare Association Inc
134. TGEU — Trans Europe and Central Asia
135. The Collective Asé
136. The Diversity Storr
137. The Flying Bats Football Club
138. The Gender Lab
139. The Inclusion Playbook
140. The Kolanut Collective (TKC)
141. To Better Understand, Inc.
142. Tonga Leitis Association
143. Trans Affirmative Action Guild (TAAG)
144. Trans Unity Coalition Tunisia ائتلاف اتحاد العابرين والعابرات بتونس
145. Trans-Fuzja Foundation
146. Transathlete
147. Transboys Spain (Asociación de hombres Trans)
148. Transfamily Incorporated
149. Transgender Netwerk
150. TransgenderJapan(TGJP)
151. Tuvalu Akanda Alliance
152. Urgent Action Fund for Feminist Activism
153. USARPA15s
154. VIMÖ – OII Austria
155. We Trans Pride Toronto
156. Women Deliver
157. Women Win
158. XEGA (Colectivo LGTBIAQ+ de Asturias)
159. Xuntes y Diverses, asoc. LGTBIQA+ y afines de Llanera
160. Youth for Change Network (YCN)

About the Sport & Rights Alliance

The Sport & Rights Alliance’s mission is to promote the rights and well-being of those most affected by human rights risks associated with the delivery of sport. Its partners include Amnesty International, The Assist, Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI), Football Supporters Europe, Human Rights Watch, ILGA World – The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Transparency International, and World Players Association, UNI Global Union. As a global coalition of leading nongovernmental organizations and trade unions, the Sport & Rights Alliance works together to ensure sports bodies, governments, and other relevant stakeholders give rise to a world of sport that protects, respects, and fulfills international standards for human rights, labour rights, child wellbeing and safeguarding, and anti-corruption.

About Humans of Sport
Humans of Sport (HoS) is an organisation dedicated to empowering athletes and transforming the world of sport by securing their livelihoods, remedying injustices, and strengthening their access to fundamental rights. The organisation works with athletes harmed by sex-testing policies in sport globally, with particular focus on athletes coming from Asia and Africa.

About ILGA World

ILGA World is a worldwide federation of more than 2,000 organisations from over 170 countries and territories campaigning for the human rights of people with diverse sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, and sex characteristics. https://ilga.org