IOC to take lead in gender eligibility criteria says Coventry

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The International Olympic Committee will spearhead discussions on gender eligibility criteria in sports, its new President Kirsty Coventry said on Thursday, four years after the ruling body had urged federations to handle the issue independently.

Coventry, who officially took over the presidency from Thomas Bach this week following Mondays ceremony in Lausanne as the first woman and first African to hold the position, said she now wanted the IOC to protect the female category.

She announced the formation of a working group to lead these discussions and another to review the election process for future Olympic host cities.

The IOC has long refused to apply any universal rule on transgender participation for the Games, instructing international federations in 2021 to come up with their own guidelines.

Were going to actually set up a working group made up of experts and international federations, Coventry told a press conference following the first executive board meeting of her presidency.

She had also held a two-day workshop for IOC members this week to discuss key issues with them.

It was agreed by the members that the IOC should take a leading role in this and that we should be the ones to bring together the experts, bring together the international federations and ensure that we find consensus, Coventry said.

We understand that there will be differences depending on the sports. We should make the effort to place emphasis on the protection of the female category and that we should ensure that this is done in consensus with all the stakeholders.

Transgender athletes are currently eligible to compete at the Olympics.

Some international federations have rules in place but others have not yet reached that stage.

U.S. President Donald Trump has banned transgender athletes from competing in sports in schools in the