The World Athletics (WA) introduced the SRY Gene Test for athletes wishing to compete in the female category during the Tokyo World Championship last year. This move was aimed at ensuring fairness.
The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) has made this rule mandatory. Saying that all female athletes will be ineligible to compete in any of their competitions from 2027, unless they go through the SRY (Sex-Determining Region Y) test.
Since the federation met in Ranchi last month, AFI began testing female athletes at the domestic level. The governing body will bear the costs of the test, and the test must only be conducted by MedGenome Labs Ltd. The laboratory is authorised and accredited by the AFI, also the athlete has to seek a letter from the AFI before the test.
Ahead of the 65th National Inter-state meet in Bhubaneswar later this month, the AFI, through their latest circular, asked female athletes to carry documents, their passport and the AFI UID card. They also alerted athletes of the consequences, should they skip the test, “With effect from next year, no athlete shall be eligible to participate in any competition organised by the AFI without undergoing the SRY gene test.”
After the announcement of this new regulation, the World Athletics President Sebastian Coe stated, “The philosophy that we hold dear in World Athletics is the protection and the promotion of the integrity of women’s sport. It is really important in a sport that is permanently trying to attract more women that they enter a sport believing there is no biological glass ceiling. The test to confirm biological sex is a very important step in ensuring this is the case.”
“We are saying, at elite level, for you to compete in the female category, you have to be biologically female. It was always very clear to me and the World Athletics Council that gender cannot trump biology.”
