Decision time: why sport is struggling to deal with transgender row

Sporting bodies now have no choice but to address an issue which for years has been regarded as too dangerous to touch

The transgender swimmer Lia Thomas cannot take part in international female competition after Fina’s ruling. Picture: AP Photo/John Bazemore

Forget Centre Court, St Andrews or Wembley. The biggest battles in this summer of sport are being fought over in the boardrooms and backrooms, as federations wrestle with the thorniest question of all: should transgender women be allowed to participate in female sport?

For years most have regarded the issue as too dangerous to touch: the sporting equivalent of playing pass the parcel with a live grenade. Now, though, they have no choice.