US President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order which seeks to ban transgender athletes from women’s sports. Trump’s administration wants the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to change things accordingly before the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles. The latest order, which is aimed at banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, empowers the US Secretary of State’s office to pressure the IOC to amend standards governing Olympic sporting events. It would promote “fairness, safety and the best interests of female athletes” as it will ensure that “eligibility for participation in women’s sporting events is determined according to sex and not gender identity or testosterone reduction.”
What does the order exactly say?
The order wants the IOC to “change everything having to do with the Olympics and having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.” It also expects the Secretary of State and the Department of Homeland Security to “review and adjust” policies that permit the admission to the United States of males seeking to participate in women’s sports.
Earlier in December, the outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach said that Olympic organizers were “very confident” they could work with the Trump administration.
Notably, he initially backed Los Angeles during his first administration when the city bid for the 2024 Games that were finally organised in Paris.
