Transgender women barred from competing in female category of many UK domestic tennis tournaments

LONDON (AP) — Transgender women non binary individuals assigned as male at birth will be barred from competing in the female category of many domestic tennis tournaments in Britain from next month, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) announced Wednesday.

The governing body of British tennis issued a new transgender and non binary policy and said it had to find a balance between competitive fairness and inclusion.

The rules do not apply to tournaments such as Wimbledon or ATP and WTA events held in Britain because the LTA is not in charge of those competitions. Domestic padel is included, but not international events staged in Britain.

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"It is clear that tennis and padel are gender-affected sports—the average man has an advantage when playing against the average woman. This includes longer levers with which to reach and hit the ball and increased cardio-vascular capacity means being able to get around the court more easily," the LTA said in a statement.

It said there was a broad consensus that the advantage was "likely to be retained to a significant degree in trans women, making competition potentially unfair."

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The policy comes into effect on Jan. 25 and applies to leagues and tournaments that involve players from different clubs and venues, from the national championships down to local level. Events put on with players from just one venue, such as club championships and social tournaments, will be able to set their own policy as "the purpose is primarily to provide fun, social competition to enable people to feel part of their local tennis community."

"We want to encourage local venues to ensure that they are as inclusive as possible for trans and non-binary individuals, providing opportunities to compete in a friendly environment," the LTA said.