AFL ready to handle first trans footballer

AS men’s AFL season kicks off, the league says it’s ready to manage the issue of the first trans person applying to play football professionally in Australia.

AFLW boss Simon Lethlean said a process is in place for when a trans woman nominates to play.

The NSW/ACT AFL guidelines say clubs “must facilitate the participation by transgender persons in Australian football with the gender with which they identify”.

Lethlean said the league treats each case individually, given the circumstances for each person.

“The transgender issue is something we have dealt with on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the state leagues,” he said. “It is not a new consideration.

“There have been instances where [trans people] want to play in certain leagues.

“It is a complicated one and our state leagues have so far dealt with those requests. We haven’t had any AFLW draft nomination requests in the elite competition.

“We would use the appropriate combination of medical and legal experts and myself, and speak to the person in question, and deal with the facts and work through them as their circumstances apply.”

The IOC’s criteria for trans women athletes require them to demonstrate serum testosterone below 10 nanomoles per litre for the 12 months prior to their first competition. There are no such restrictions for trans men competing in men’s sports.