RUGBY UNION
Safety guidelines updated
World Rugby on Friday recommended that transgender people should not play in women’s elite or international teams for safety reasons. The governing body released the guidelines following a “comprehensive, collaborative and transparent” review of existing guidelines. The review was led by Araba Chintoh, a former Canada women’s international and psychiatrist who was charged with deciding how “inclusivity could be balanced with safety and fairness.” Chintoh described the review as “complex and emotive,” but necessary. “We set out to determine whether it would be possible to maintain inclusion in contact rugby based on the available research and evidence and rugby’s unique context of combining strength, power, speed and endurance in a physical, collision environment,” she said. “As we progressed through a comprehensive and inclusive review, it became clear that there are compelling evidenced safety considerations which we simply cannot ignore.” The guidelines are not binding on national unions in their domestic competitions. “As with many other sports, the physiological differences between males and females necessitate dedicated men’s and women’s contact rugby categories for safety and performance reasons,” World Rugby said in a statement. “Given the best available evidence for the effects of testosterone reduction on these physical attributes for transgender women, it was concluded that safety and fairness cannot presently be assured for women competing against transwomen in contact rugby.” World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said that “we recognize that the science continues to evolve and we are committed to regularly reviewing these guidelines, always seeking to be inclusive.”
RUGBY UNION
S Africa decision due
World champions South Africa are to decide next week whether they travel to Australia next month to take part in the Rugby Championship amid uncertainty over COVID-19 travel restrictions and concern about the team’s readiness. Rugby South Africa on Saturday said that “several hurdles needed to be cleared if it is to be confirmed” that the Springboks participate in the four-nation Southern Hemisphere championship in Australia from Nov. 7 to Dec. 12.
SOCCER
City ready for Messi
Manchester City would be in a position to sign Lionel Messi if the opportunity presents itself next season, said Omar Berrada, the Premier League club’s chief operating officer. City were the frontrunners to land Messi’s services after the 33-year-old Argentine in August handed Barcelona an official notice of his desire to terminate his contract. However, the six-times world player of the year decided to stay in Spain for the coming season, the last on his current deal, as he did not want to face a legal battle with the club he joined as a teenager and with whom he has amassed more than 30 major trophies. “He’s the best player in the world, he’s the best player of his generation. I think any club in the world would like to explore the possibility of him joining their team,” Berrada told the Manchester Evening News. “He’s probably an exception to potential investments that we’d do ... but our planning has been done with this current squad and it is being considered with the current opportunities that we have. For every single position we have to be prepared because there can be so many things that can happen but, at the same time, I think we have the financial strength and system ability to make that investment when required.”
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but
Taiwanese gymnast Lee Chih-kai failed to secure an Olympic berth in the pommel horse following a second-place finish at the last qualifier in Doha on Friday, a performance that Lee and his coach called “unconvincing.” The Tokyo Olympics silver medalist finished runner-up in the final after scoring 6.6 for degree of difficulty and 8.800 for execution for a combined score of 15.400. That was just 0.100 short of Jordan’s Ahmad Abu Al Soud, who had qualified for the event in Paris before the Apparatus World Cup series in Qatar’s capital. After missing the final rounds in the first two of four qualifier