{"id":30144,"date":"2026-03-27T16:32:24","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:32:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=30144"},"modified":"2026-03-27T16:32:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T14:32:24","slug":"france-hits-out-at-iocs-step-backwards-on-gender-testing","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/france-hits-out-at-iocs-step-backwards-on-gender-testing\/","title":{"rendered":"France hits out at IOC&#8217;s step backwards on gender testing"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>France&#8217;s \u200bsports minister on Friday called the International Olympic Committee&#8217;s (IOC) decision to introduce genetic \u200ctesting for women&#8217;s events a &#8220;step backwards&#8221;, warning it raises major ethical, legal and scientific concerns.<\/div>\n<div>\nFrance &#8220;takes note&#8221; of the decision to require athletes to undergo testing based on the SRY gene, but \u200bopposes any broad use of genetic screening, Marina Ferrari said in a statement.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;On \u200bbehalf of the French government, I wish to express our deep \u2060concern regarding this decision,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We oppose a generalisation of genetic testing that \u200braises numerous ethical, legal and medical questions, particularly in light of French bioethics legislation.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The \u200bIOC said on Thursday that only biological female athletes would be eligible for women&#8217;s events from the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics onwards, following a one-time gene test designed to identify male sex \u200bdevelopment. The move essentially bars transgender athletes from competing in the female category.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;These \u200btests, introduced in 1967, were discontinued in 1999 due to strong reservations within the scientific community \u200cregarding \u2060their relevance. France regrets this step backwards,&#8221; Ferrari said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>She added that the policy risked undermining equality by specifically targeting women.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;This decision raises major concerns, as it specifically targets women by introducing a distinction that undermines the principle of equality,&#8221; she said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Ferrari also \u200bwarned the approach failed \u200bto reflect biological \u2060diversity, particularly among intersex individuals.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8220;It defines the female sex without taking into account the biological specificities of intersex individuals, whose sexual \u200bcharacteristics present natural variations, leading to a reductive and potentially \u200bstigmatizing approach,&#8221; \u2060she said.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>France remains committed to fairness in competition while safeguarding athletes&#8217; privacy and well-being, Ferrari added, pledging that &#8220;every athlete can compete in a respectful, protective environment consistent with the \u2060values \u200bof French sport.&#8221;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>She said France would establish a \u200bnational observatory bringing together sports bodies, scientists, legal experts and athlete representatives to develop recommendations aimed at ensuring \u200bsport is &#8220;fair, inclusive and respectful of human rights&#8221;.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>&#8211;Reuters&#8211;<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":23811,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[20],"class_list":["post-30144","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-sport","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"She added that the policy risked undermining equality by specifically targeting women.","published_date":"","news_description":"She added that the policy risked undermining equality by specifically targeting women.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30145,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/30144\/revisions\/30145"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=30144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}