Olympic Games: IOC Working Groups Set Up
By Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw
The new President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Kirsty Coventry, has set up four working groups, with the aim of reshaping the Olympic Games.
One of them includes the protection of women's sport, an ongoing controversial issue.
The other working groups will review the Olympic programme; the Youth Olympic Games; and commercial partnerships and marketing.
The President had promised, when elected, to create a working group for women's sport, stating that the IOC must "play a leading role" on gender eligibility, and added that the new group will "look at how we can best protect the female category".
However, whilst naming the members of the other three working groups, the IOC stated that:
“The names of the members of the working group will remain confidential for now to protect the integrity of the group and its work.”
But added:
"The group will consist of experts and international federations."
To date, the IOC has left gender regulations to the governing bodies of individual sports rather than issuing universal regulations.
Several sports federations, in fact, have introduced regulations that ban athletes, who have undergone male puberty, from competing in elite female competitions.
Also, in February 2025, the US President Donald Trump signed an executive order, which includes the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, preventing transgender women from competing in female categories, and added that he will deny visas for transgender athletes trying to visit the US to compete in the Games.
The IOC President explained that the new groups:
"will allow us to meet deadlines, and bring important technical expertise to these complex and important discussions, while realigning where we feel that it is necessary to strengthen our movement".
And added that:
"These groups will receive constant feedback to make sure that everybody is fully aligned and that all recommendations are fully integrated."
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this rather ambitious exercise, in due course.
Prof Dr Ian Blackshaw may be contacted by e-mail at ‘
