The UK’s equality watchdog issued a statement on Tuesday saying it’s “likely to be lawful” for sporting bodies to ban transgender athletes in order to ensure fairness and the safety of competitors.
The intervention comes after The Telegraph reported that a middle-aged person who had transitioned from a man to a woman—and who was described by a coach as someone who “hits the ball harder than any other I have seen in the league”—was allowed to play cricket against girls as young as 12.
According to the report, coaches and parents from six counties wrote to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) demanding the governing body explain why the biological male was allowed to compete in first-class cricket with prepubescent girls….