The LTA, the governing body of tennis in Britain, is to ban transgender players from the women’s game, in moves that go beyond international rules.
After considering the balance between inclusion and fairness, officials have aligned themselves with evidence showing that men have a clear advantage in racquet sports.
The approach – which will apply to national tennis and padel tournaments – goes further than international policy which allows trans women to compete if testosterone levels are reduced.
There is a feverish debate around the rules of tennis, with Martina Navratilova, a leading activist for better protection of women in all sports. The LTA’s decision to toughen its rules comes after sectors including swimming, cycling and athletics aligned themselves with similar policies favoring fairness over inclusion.
“As the national governing body for tennis and padel, the LTA has had to balance two potentially conflicting responsibilities,” the LTA said.
“There is a responsibility to ensure that competition in our sport is fair and a responsibility to ensure that tennis is welcoming and inclusive for everyone.
“To do this, we have considered the available evidence, including the work carried out by the Sports Council Equality Group, as well as listening to those directly affected.
“The (new) policy attempts to balance these two responsibilities appropriately, but with the understanding that different people will reasonably have different views as to where that balance should lie.”
Internal club tennis will continue to have discretion to allow trans women to compete, but at higher levels – from county to national – these players will only be allowed to compete alongside men.
“It is clear that tennis and padel are gender-sensitive sports: the average man has an advantage when playing against the average woman,” says the LTA. “This includes longer levers for reaching and hitting the ball and increased cardiovascular capacity means being able to move around the court more easily.
“The current broad consensus, including the conclusion of the review by the Sports Councils Equality Group, is that this advantage is likely to be retained to a large extent among trans women, making the potentially unfair competition.”
The rules will not apply to tournaments like Wimbledon or Queen’s, which fall under international gender guidelines.
