The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will lead discussions on gender eligibility criteria in sports, announced new President, Kirsty Coventry, on Thursday. This marks a change from four years ago, when the IOC had urged federations to manage the issue independently. She announced the formation of a working group to lead these discussions and another to review the election process for future Olympic host cities. “We’re going to actually set up a working group made up of experts and international federations,” Coventry told a press conference following the first executive board meeting of her presidency. “It was agreed by the members that the IOC should take a leading role in this and that we should be the ones to bring together the experts, bring together the international federations, and ensure that we find consensus,” Coventry said. Coventry, who recently took over from Thomas Bach, becoming the first woman and first African to hold the position, expressed her intention to “protect the female category.” “We understand that there will be differences depending on the sports. We should make the effort to place emphasis on the protection of the female category, and that we should ensure that this is done in consensus with all the stakeholders.” The IOC has long refrained from applying a universal rule on transgender participation in the Games, directing international federations in 2021 to create their own guidelines. Currently, transgender athletes are eligible to compete at the Olympics. While some international federations have established rules, others have not yet done so. In the United States, President Donald Trump has banned transgender athletes from competing in school sports, a move criticized by civil society groups as infringing on trans rights. Trump has also stated he would not permit transgender athletes to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. (with Reuters inputs)