NRL still finalising rules on trans women athletes

The NRL is in the final stages of formalising their transgender athlete policy.

Andrew Abdo says the policy on trans athletes will be carefully considered

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo says the ARL Commission is reviewing and finalising a transgender athlete policy.

The Commission met last Tuesday and the policy was discussed among other pressing ­issues for the game.

“It’s a very important policy for the game and is being carefully considered by the commission,” Abdo said. “For a contact sport like ours, it’s a very complex and important issue.”

Other governing bodies, such as the AFL and Rugby Australia, have already decided their guidelines regarding trans athletes in their elite ranks.

Rugby Australia falls under World Rugby’s rules. World Rugby’s transgender policy excludes trans women from playing at an elite level because of “safety issues”.

“Transgender women may not currently play women’s rugby,” a statement on the World Rugby website reads.

“Why? Because of the size, force and power-producing advantages conferred by testosterone during puberty and adolescence, and the resultant player welfare risks this creates.”

The AFL’s policy places a limit on a trans woman athlete’s testosterone levels as well as requiring physical testing before being granted a chance to play at a top level.

“Given the physical nature of Australian football, it is considered that maintenance of testosterone at or below 5 nmol/L for at least 2 years is reasonable to ensure that the competitive advantage of higher levels of testosterone have dissipated to an acceptable degree at the time the trans or non-binary person proposes to play in the AFLW competition,” the policy reads.

“If the threshold requirement is met, trans women and non-­binary people may nominate for the AFLW draft or apply to play in other elite football competitions by producing information including (to the extent available) data regarding their height, weight, bench press, 20m sprint, vertical jump, GPS data and 2km run.”